Cinnamon and Gold
by Okami-Raen
Summary: Luca Canzone never thought she would ever deal with Mafia matters again. No, she would be safe in Namimori, an ocean away from Italy...that was, until a certain 'soon to be boss' fell into her life quite literally...
1. All In Flames

**Ciaossu~!**

**So...yes, I've started another story.**

**(Please don't shoot me, readers who already know me and are waiting for updates on other things!) I know I'm supposed to work on my other fics, but... I really have been wanting to get this one out of my system for ages. So bear with it. XD**

**So, shall we begin?  
**

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_Since the house is on fire let us warm ourselves. ~Italian Proverb_

"_**Y**__ou're one cheeky little shit, aren't ya?"_ hissed a blonde haired man as he shouldered the kicking and screaming five year old through the smoldering hallway. The fire was getting too intense; he couldn't stick around and grab anything for the brat; if he stayed any longer she would get too much smoke in her lungs, and that would be a problem.

"Tch, what a hassle," he growled, frowning and kicking a burning table out of his way. Above him, he heard things falling; the roof was probably caving in from the intense heat. There wouldn't be anything left of—

"Mama! Papa!" screamed the brat, "Let me go you asshole!"

He glanced at her, an amused smirk on his face. _Well, her vocab is pretty wide,_ he thought. _But she needs to shut that damned mouth of hers._ His ears were ringing from the shrill volume of it. And she continued to scream non-stop; he bounced her on his shoulder hoping she would stop for a second, _cuz the damned kid needs to breathe at some point_, but all it seemed to do was aggravate her enough that, screaming and hissing like a wildcat, she twisted and sunk her teeth into the skin just above his collar bone.

He let out a nice round of cuss words in Italian before grabbing the back of her nightgown and tugging her back. Her jade green eyes were quite furious under the tears as she stared up at him, before she started coughing.

The smoke was starting to get thick, even for him.

"Tch," he dodged a falling grandfather clock as he made his way into one of the front rooms. The lace curtains were smoking and curling as the flames licked at them, falling into pieces and leaving holes in the Persian rugs.

_Wealth rent back into the earth,_ he commented silently as he looked around the room for a way out. The front doorway had buckled under the weight of the upstairs balcony; it was too full of flame for him to take that way anymore. So possibly a window?

The brat had finally stopped screaming; she was limp in his arms. He looked down and let out another cussword before whipping off his coat and wrapping her in it. He cursed himself for not doing it sooner; if the kid ended up taking in too much smoke…

His thoughts ran short as the ceiling collapsed above them, sending flaming chunks of plaster and wood at their heads. It sounded like the whole world was crashing down on them; it was lucky that he managed to get under the grand piano just in time; otherwise they would have been roasted. But that wasn't saying that the piano provided protection from the heat; no, it was like jumping into a bonfire.

The kid started screaming again as the ends of the coat caught fire; her screams painful and high pitched.

"Would ya shut up!" he gasped, kicking the burning chunks of ceiling out of the way and pulling her tighter against his chest. Coughing, he managed to get them to the windows. With a good kick, the windows were shattered and he was jumping out, the little brat hugging tight to his middle.

They hit the ground a good ten feet below, but he didn't let her go, rolling in midair so he landed on his back. It hurt like hell, and he let out a heck of a groan. Not a minute later, the roof completely collapsed on the Victorian house, flame rocketing upwards.

"Mama! Papa!" screamed the little brat, untangling herself from the coat. Her eyes were big and wide as she saw the house burning down.

_Damn,_ he thought sitting up and pulling his long blonde hair out of his eyes; his ponytail must have come undone. He pulled his hand away to see blood; somehow he managed to cut his forehead on the way out. The kid glanced at him, before tearing to her feet and running at the house.

"H-Hey!" he yelled, before limping after her. But she didn't go inside. Instead she sank to her knees and stared at the flames, her skin white as porcelain against the light of the flame. He stopped next to her, before reaching down and putting his hand on the top of her head.

"I'm sorry little princess, but your Mama and Papa are gone."

The little girl dropped her head down and started crying; he scooped her up and carried her to his motorcycle, which he kicked to life within moments.

And so began the new life of Luca Alessia Canzone, only survivor of the Canzone family.

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..

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**Alright, so that was my brisk first chapter. It's been a while since I jumped back to 3rd person view... But that aside, the second chapter is on its way!**

**Reviews are very welcome, and thank you for reading!**

**-Okami Raen  
**


	2. Azzuro E Vendatte

**And here's chapter two~**

**Not much else to say, but I hope you enjoy!**

**-okami  
**

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Chapter 2

He said his name was Azzuro E. Vendatte, and that he was her Papa's brother. He said that her mama and papa had been murdered by some bad guys who had it out for the Canzone family, her family.

When she asked why he was there he said that he had promised her papa that he would take care of her.

"You can call me Uncle, or Azzuro or whatever," he had said, when she asked what she should call him. "I can't promise you much, but I will take care of you…somehow."

He told her she looked just like her mama, dainty and little with bright red hair and blue eyes. But she had her papa's nose and her uncle's mouth.

Luca learned fast that Azzuro, or Uncle as she soon called him, didn't like talking about her father. In fact, he didn't like talking about her Mama much either. Whenever Luca mentioned them, he would get a serious expression and leave the room, or snap at her to stop asking so many questions.

At first, Luca didn't like her Uncle much at all. He wasn't her Papa. He smoked and would drink a strong smelling amber liquid before falling asleep or stomping off into the bedroom where she could hear him talking to himself or snoring loudly. Of course she didn't sleep in the room with him; she, out of a mixture of dislike and distrust for the man slept curled up on the couch.

And the apartment was small, especially when compared to her Papa's town house. There was only one bedroom, a kitchen, a bathroom and a small living room where Azzuro sat with his knee high boots crossed over the coffee table.

Though he said he was her Papa's brother, Azzuro looked nothing like him. Her Papa, Adolfo Cecilio Canzone had dark, curly hair and dark eyes that were wrinkled at the outer edges from laughing all the time. Azzuro had long wavy blonde hair secured in a tight ponytail at the nape of his neck and light blue eyes; he didn't laugh much at all, only scowled, as the lines between his eyebrows showed. And he had piercings. Her Papa had none.

And Luca's Papa never left her alone for days on end.

Azzuro often disappeared, leaving Luca to fend for herself on whatever she could find in the refrigerator. But she didn't starve. Using the few cook books she found, she managed to make herself a meal. She also found, to entertain herself that cleaning the apartment in Azzuro's absence was moderately fun, though anyone as sensible as herself (or so she thought) would derive pleasure from being able to see the carpet.

When he came back, for the first time in the few weeks she had known him, he laughed.

"Ah, little princess!" he chirped, walking up to her and lifting her up into the air. "My little Cinderella, I see you have been busy!"

He was strangely happy that day, though she didn't know why. And there was a little bit of blood on his sleeve. But he wasn't wounded. Luca didn't want to think on just why that was, but it was hard to think on anything else when it seemed like her Uncle was acting out of character.

"You know what?" he asked her, turning from the hazy television. "Let's go out and buy you some stuff, huh? Hell, we can go and eat out, sky's the limit!"

And so they did. Five hours later, Luca found herself sitting across from Azzuro at a small table outside a small restaurant called "Marcos", eating veal parmesan and sipping fresh fruit juice. Bags of various things were scattered beneath the table, while a soft white plush lion was clutched tightly under Luca's arm.

She didn't understand at all why her Uncle Azzuro was acting the way he was; he was friendly and was overly generous, not at all like he had been since she had met him. Was this a different side of him that she hadn't seen? Or was it that he was overly pleased at her taking care of his apartment? She couldn't know. But she wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth, especially when she found this little bit of happiness after weeks of quiet, sadness, and discomfort.

Luca missed her parents.

But she didn't cry in front of her Uncle. He seemed angry enough when she brought up her Mama and Papa to him, so she only cried when she knew he was asleep or gone. And as the weeks wore on, she cried less and less. She missed them more and more as time went by, but the sadness and pain of their loss became something akin to a throbbing wound.

Azzuro's hand was huge and warm in comparison to hers; his skin rough and thick, hers fragile and soft. Her fingers tightened around his thumb as he led her away from the restaurant and up the street.

Luca didn't know the name of the town they were staying in, but she had the distinct feeling that they were far from where she had lived. There was something funny about the air that she didn't know how to explain, something that made it colder and mistier. When she voiced her concerns, Azzuro assured her that they were close to the ocean, and pointed out that only a block away were the fish markets. But they weren't heading there. Azzuro wanted to take her to see a lady friend of his, a lady friend that would more than likely become her new tutor for school.

"You can't go without your education, little princess," he said, now carrying the tired five year old on his shoulders. "You've got smarts; better not let them go to waste, right?"

She didn't answer, only adjusted her grip, her stuffed lion being used as a cushion between Azzuro's neck and her chest.

He was a very powerful man, Azzuro. Luca was a little awed by it; her Papa had been strong, but not in the same way as Azzuro, who pushed through the crowded subway like it was nothing more than a low hanging forest.

She felt glad that she was so high up on his shoulders; the crowds of people below were tight and she knew she would get lost.

The train ride was crowded as well, and Luca had to sit on her Uncle's lap, not that she really minded at that point. She clutched her lion and looked at the other people, all who seemed to find her and Azzuro very interesting. But, Azzuro did look scary, so maybe having Luca on his lap was strange?

She looked away from the strangers and up at her Uncle. He was just staring listlessly at the window across from them, his expression serious and quiet.

The remaining train ride was quiet; Luca just sat silently on Azzuro's lap, her fingers moving through the soft fur of her lion or playing with the lace on the bottom of her new little dress.

Azzuro put Luca back on his shoulders as they exited the train; she held on tight, her chin resting on the top of her hands as he made his way out of the station.

"Did it hurt?" asked Luca, gently touching Azzuro's ear as he cleared the exit and made for the street. Six small silver rings were pierced into the cartilage, starting from the top of his ear and moving down to his ear lobe. They were very pretty.

"Nah, it's just a little pinch," he replied, glancing at her. Luca saw that his eyebrow was also pierced. He gave her a little grin. "One for each successful hit," he added.

"Hit?"

"Never mind, little one," he replied, bouncing her slightly with a strange sort of grin. Luca didn't ask, though she did wonder.

They continued up the street, before Azzuro made a left at a corner and started walking up what looked like a main street. There were small shops and a few cafes with colorful umbrellas, and nice houses.

It was all pretty to look at, but nothing caught Luca's eye more than the tiny flower shop that had somehow squeezed itself between a bakery and a house with a large iron gate. There were tulips, roses and chrysanthemums in multiple colors, all delicate and bright.

"H-hey!" cried Azzuro when he felt Luca slide down his back. He turned to see her running towards the shop, her shoes making a click against the sidewalk.

The flowers were sweet when Luca put her nose to them. But nothing was sweeter than the pink lilies.

"Mama's flower…" she muttered under her breath as she poked one of the speckled petals with her finger.

Azzuro watched from a few feet away, his hands in his pockets and shopping bags at his feet.

_Like mother, like daughter._ He said to himself before crouching down beside Luca.

"Stargazer Lilies, right?"

Luca glanced at him, surprised that someone like her Uncle knew the name. He chuckled slightly, before plucking one of the flowers out of the bucket and sniffing it.

"Hm, these were Sadako—I mean, your Mama's favorite flowers…so you like them too, little princess?"

Luca smiled and nodded, before turning to see the owner of the shop walk up to them. He addressed her uncle and they started talking in friendly voices, while Luca went on to examine the other flowers.

After a few minutes, Azzuro walked over and led Luca away, telling her that they shouldn't keep her teacher much longer.

A block away from the floral shop, Luca realized they had left her lion stuffed animal behind. Azzuro was a little irritated, and was ready to turn and walk all the way uphill to get it, but the sound of yelling made them stop.

A businessman was running up to them, Luca's lion in his hands. He caught his breath, before smiling and handing Luca her lion, saying that he had seen the little girl and her father leave it behind, and he must return it to them.

"He's not my Papa," said Luca as she hugged her lion. "He's my Uncle Azzuro."

The man only smiled and looked at her Uncle, before wishing them well and walking away.

Hefting the shopping bags in one hand and Luca's hand in the other, Azzuro began walking away, scolding her for not keeping hold of her stuff. Luca didn't reply, only held her lion all the more tightly.

Within another five minutes, they were at the Lady's house.

It was small and strict looking, with iron bars on the windows and a very straight lawn. Definitely not a house made for children.

Luca's hand tightened on Azzuro's as he led her to the door. He gave a knock and a second later, a tall grey haired woman answered it.

Luca immediately got the impression of a predatory bird, the way the old woman was staring down at her. Her sharp gold-brown eyes were framed by a moderately wrinkled face and fragile looking bones, but Luca could tell by the way the woman stood stock still that she was much stronger than she looked.

Azzuro didn't seem to be intimidated in the least; he leaned forwards and kissed the woman on the cheek, before chattering with her in a language that Luca didn't understand. At first it seemed harsh and angry, but after a few sentences, Luca realized it was German.

The old woman gestured to Luca, before shaking her head and what looked like scolding Azzuro. But after a minute, she looked around and gestured for them to come into the house.

Luca kept close to her Uncle, not wanting to do anything to anger the already unfriendly woman.

The two adults suddenly switched back to Italian as Azzuro seemed to lose his temper.

"What do you mean, neglect! I'm taking perfectly good care of her!"

"This child obviously hasn't been eating well, and when is the last time she had a bath! I see that you found her some clothing, but Ernesto a child needs more than that! I thought I had taught you better!"

Luca winced at their volume, knowing full well who they were talking about.

Almost as if knowing, the woman stopped yelling and frowned, growling for Azzuro to go into the parlor and take the 'poor child' with him.

The whole house was old and smelled of dust and some sort of animal, though there was no sign of either. Luca tried to look around, but Azzuro almost seemed like he was trying to escape, so Luca had to focus and match her small steps to his long ones, lest she trip and anger him.

The parlor was small and filled with hanging plants, paintings, strange ornaments, and a large piano against the far wall. It smelled sweeter in there, but still dusty. Luca's nose was tingling from it.

"Damn," muttered Azzuro as he sank onto the worn velvet couch, his elbows resting on his knees. Luca obediently sat next to him, wondering where the old woman had gone.

"Are you afraid of her, Uncle Azzuro?" asked Luca when she saw him wince at the sound of china in the next room.

"Me? Of her?" he laughed loudly, before lowering his voice dramatically. "Of course not! Even if she was my own teacher at one point…Ahaha."

Somehow, Luca knew he was lying. He seemed uncomfortable. But she had another question.

"Uncle…why did she call you Ernesto?"

He stared at her.

"Damn you're a sharp little…" he let the sentence die off, "Uh…it's my…middle name."

Luca couldn't help a smile at his obvious embarrassment. She, unlike him liked her middle name. It was Alessia and her Papa said it had been her Nana's first name.

The old woman appeared a moment later, carrying a chipped tea set on a tarnished silver platter. She said her name was Mrs. Miller, and that she was going to be Luca's tutor.

"And you'd better leave her here for a day, Ernesto," she said, sitting on a footstool, her leg crossed over the other.

"W-what?!" he gasped, making Luca flinch.

"At least until you can take better care of this child. And to think, you had another job today and you were just going to leave her home! She just lost her parents and you're neglecting her!"

Azzuro jumped to his feet.

"Don't tell me how to take care of my own niece! She's doing just fine, aren't you…Luca?!"

Luca had disappeared from her seat and was nowhere to be seen, until Azzuro spotted a little bit of her dress sticking out from behind the chair.

As their voices got louder, she had slunk away to hide her red face. She didn't like hearing yelling, and especially when it was over her. She didn't want to be left with the scary lady, and she didn't like hearing the woman diss her Uncle. He might not be the best, but he was all she had!

Luca hid her face in her lion's fur as the couch was pulled out of the way. It made a horrible squelching noise against the old floor.

Azzuro lifted her into his arms, before moving to sit on the couch again.

"She's obviously in a fragile state, and you know you shouldn't leave her home alone, Ernesto. I'm not trying to tell you what to do, but you have to think of what's best for this child." Then Mrs. Miller got up and left them in the room alone.

"I…I don't wanna be left with the scary lady!" cried Luca, burying her face against his shirt.

He made a noise that was part laugh and part growl before patting her back awkwardly.

"I know… Sorry little princess, but at least for the night. I need to get some things ready. As much as I hate to admit it, the woman has a point. I promise I'll be back for you, my little Luca."

He kissed her cheek in parting, and then he left her there, in a house she didn't know, and with a woman that was both strange and scary.

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**So, what do you think? Azzuro is a character that kind of sprung to life for me a while before I wrote this. Sooner or later I'll have a picture up of him, but as for now...it's all up to you readers~**

**Alright, thanks!**

**-okami  
**


	3. Dangerous Encounter!

**Hello again~**

**So, I ended up changing the title of our story because I found that the title had already been taken on another fic, and it unnerved me a little bit. So...new title!  
**

**And...Here we are on the third chapter already! :D**

**Thanks goes out to those who favorited, alerted and reviewed!**

**_(And for those who are waiting for the Cannon characters to come in, please be patient. You will start to see them...next chapter, I do believe.)_**

**Well, read on then!**

**:D  
**

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Chapter 3

Three weeks had passed.

Azzuro hadn't come back.

He had broken his promise.

Luca was sad.

"He's always been like that, little one."Mrs. Miller had said after finding Luca kneeling on the couch, chin resting on the windowsill. Her words, though kind, didn't give Luca much relief.

She kept wondering why Azzuro hadn't come back.

He had been so nice to her, the last time she had seen him. She had thought that maybe that niceness was another side of him she hadn't seen, that he was going to try and make up for how he had been for the first few weeks of their acquaintance.

Luca realized she had been wrong.

Mrs. Miller was sympathetic and very kind in her own fashion, though Luca had never met someone so strict before. The second day she had been staying in the house, Mrs. Miller took it within herself to start schooling Luca at a fast pace.

It wasn't easy. Mrs. Miller was relentless in her teachings, teachings which easily took up most of the day. Literature, Science, Arithmetic…Luca had to learn them all, as well as taking up an instrument of her choice.

Luca chose the violin.

It was awkward to hold, dusty and a bit worn…she didn't like it all that much at first, until she found out who it had belonged to.

"It was Celio's.**" stated Mrs. Miller as she helped Luca into the correct posture. Answering the questioning look, she added. "That was your Papa, little Alessia."

Luca instantly loved the violin, her Papa's violin from that moment on.

She also found that though her schooling was difficult, she liked it. Mrs. Miller compared her often to her Papa, saying how she was bright as he was, if not brighter.

Luca liked that. She liked Mrs. Miller. She liked that Mrs. Miller talked about her Papa. And even her Uncle too.

"Azzuro and Celio never got along," she had told Luca one day as she mended a nightgown. "Probably because your Papa and Uncle had different fathers… but they both were such good boys…"

Luca had also learned that Mrs. Miller had been her Papa and Uncle's nanny and teacher, and was very glad to be able to help rear Luca as well.

In the three weeks that passed, Luca had quickly adjusted to her new home. She had her own room, which had once been her Uncle's (and previously her Papa's), and didn't have to worry about feeding herself. Mrs. Miller liked to cook and cooked well. Luca never went hungry.

Mrs. Miller also took in on herself to groom Luca to be a 'little signorita', and would brush out her long auburn hair after each bath, before showing her how to manicure her nails, sit properly and speak politely. And Mrs. Miller was very pleased with the clothing Azzuro had bought for Luca; pretty little night gowns, dresses with lace, summer dresses, and a few pairs of dainty dress shoes.

Luca missed her Uncle.

It wasn't quite the same as missing her parents, but it was close. She was confused with why he had left her with Mrs. Miller. Did he not want her anymore? Did Luca do something bad without meaning to?

She finally gathered up the courage to ask Mrs. Miller just that, only to be scolded and told to go and practice her violin. But there had been something about the way Mrs. Miller frowned that told Luca that something else was going on. She may have been five, but she wasn't oblivious.

And then it happened.

A stranger came to the house.

Luca had been in her bedroom, playing with her stuffed lion that she had named "Cosimo" when there was a loud knock at the door. Thinking it was her Uncle, she jumped to her feet and tore out of the room, Cosimo tucked tightly under one arm.

But it wasn't Azzuro.

It was a strange blonde woman, who Luca immediately did not like. Everything about her was red. Red lipstick, red skirt and jacket, red shoes… And it was a bright red, like the red flames that had eaten her old life and parents away, red that seemed painful and poisonous.

The woman's eyes were heavy lidded and disdainful as she looked at Luca, before turning to Mrs. Miller who was trying to lead the woman into the parlor.

"What a dreadful looking child," she scoffed quite loudly in Italian. "To think she's the last of her family…"

Her voice was nasally and rude and Luca liked her even less. But she was starting to have trouble hearing exactly what was being said, and being the curious little five year old she was, had to investigate.

Pressed up against the crack between the door and the wall, Luca listened closely.

"So, you know why I am here, don't you, Elsa Miller?" drawled the red-woman.

"I don't believe so," replied Mrs. Miller in a nervous tone. "I see you know me, but I'm afraid I don't know y—"

"Serafina Elisabeta***," cut in the red-woman. "Though it isn't necessary, I will keep etiquette up…since it's so hard to come by these days. But I must say, Mrs. Miller, that you are lacking them. Did you forget to report in as soon as that _fool_ Azzuro brought you the brat?"

"I didn't," replied Mrs. Miller in a more controlled voice, "But please, she's just lost her parents, and she's only child, what—"

"Harm could she cause? You're obviously not very bright. She may be a child, but what my brother says is _law_. Her famiglia was to be wiped out, and no survivors. That meddling halfwit Azzuro may have saved the brat from the fire, but my brother wants her dead and gone. End of story. And if you stand in his way, you will be removed, _gladly._"

"I don't take well to threats, Mrs. Elisabeta. I think you should leave my house, immediately. And you will not lay a finger on this child, not ever." Mrs. Miller's voice had a dangerous edge to it, more dangerous than when she had scolded Azzuro.

There was the sound of a table moving, followed by quickly advancing feet. Before Luca could move, the door opened and she had to flatten against the wall.

The red-woman, Serafina stormed out into the hallway, her shoes making a loud clicking sound as she made for the front door.

Mrs. Miller quickly followed after her, a shiny black revolver in her hands.

"Don't think chasing me out will save you, or the girl, Mrs. Miller," spat the woman as she turned around in the doorway. "I will be back, and you…you have just sealed your fate. The girl and you…will _die_." Serafina's eyes were on Luca as she said it, mean and spiteful, before Mrs. Miller slammed the door shut.

Luca was silent, not knowing what to make of what was said. But she was scared. Her heart was pounding fast, and her arms and legs felt weak and tingly.

Mrs. Miller slowly turned around, her eyes bloodshot and larger than normal. She stared at Luca for a moment, before realization hit her.

"Alessia. Go…to your room at once!" she screamed in a terrifying voice, making Luca flinch. The revolver was still in her hands.

Luca felt tears rising to her eyes.

"I said go!" screamed Mrs. Miller, coming closer.

Luca ran towards the stairs, clutching Cosimo tightly, tears streaming down her cheeks. Mrs. Miller chased after her, all the way up the stairs and to the room. Terrified beyond all reason, Luca made for her bed and slid under it, a sob forcing its way out of her throat as her shoulder slammed into one of the support planks underneath.

The bedroom door slammed shut, and Luca was left alone inside, with what sounded like muffled sobbing coming from the other side of the door.

Luca didn't know what was going on. All she could do was cry in confused terror and hold tightly to Cosimo.

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**Oh look, a foot note! (looks like I'm doing some explaining for you guys...)**

*****If you couldn't tell, Mrs. Miller has the tendency to call people by their middle names. Alessia is Luca's middle name, Ernetso is Azzuro's, and Celio was Luca's Father's middle name.**

*****Serafina's name is not to be confused with the character from 'The Golden Compass'. It's Italian and means 'Serpent' and 'She who blazes brightly', more or less.**

**Alright, that's it!**

**see you next time!**


	4. The Nerezza Famiglia Attacks!

**Ciaossu~!**

**Well...I didn't get to keep my promise about having cannon characters in this chapter, but it's certain for next. :D**

PhoenixRage92: Heh, well the whole red thing...maybe it'll be a bit better in the chapter? And thank you!

p3nny: Heheh, I'm glad you enjoy the story. :D Thank you for reviewing!

grenouille-85: Heheh, things aren't always what they seem. *cough* with Azzuro at least *cough* But yeah~

steel-alchemist: Thank you so much! ^^

MiAquaN: Heheh, thanks ^^

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Chapter 4

Even when the sun sank down below her window, Luca didn't dare come out from under her bed.

She lay in the dust, her body curled around Cosimo.

The house was quiet.

Luca couldn't be sure if Mrs. Miller was still at her door, or gone. But she wasn't willing to find out...the fear of what was waiting for her was more than enough to keep her under the bed.

Sleep came slowly, like the little specks of dust drifting down onto the floorboards in front of her nose. Specks of dust that were becoming harder and harder to see in the fading light.

She felt alone.

Luca didn't know why Azzuro left her. She didn't know why Mrs. Miller suddenly changed. But she suspected that it was her fault. And the red-woman wanted her dead.

After losing her Mama and Papa, Luca knew death.

She wondered why she hadn't died with them.

She wondered if she was going to go to Heaven like her Mama used to talk about.

"Mama…" she mumbled, heavy drowsiness spreading over her. Within minutes, she was asleep.

**

The next thing she knew, she was being shaken awake.

"Alessia, honey! You need to get up!"

Mrs. Miller was reaching under the bed, doing her best to wake Luca who was pressed up against the wall in surprise and fear.

Her eyes were wide and terrified.

"I…I don't wanna die," she muttered, "I don't want the Red Lady to hurt me!"

Mrs. Miller pulled back and stared at the bed, her expression worried. After a moment, she leaned forwards towards Luca.

"I'm not going to let them hurt you, little Alessia. I'm sorry that I scared you so bad, but we need to leave now, before-"

A heavy sound downstairs echoed through the house, followed by rushing footsteps.

"Alessia!" cried Mrs. Miller with a mixture of fear and determination. She reached under the bed as far as her arm could reach, catching hold of Luca's ankle and pulling her out.

Luca let out a squeal of terror and tried to fight her off, but the wiry old woman was stronger.

"We need to leave, now!" cried Mrs. Miller, dragging the five-year old out from under the bed and across the hardwood floor. Luca's legs tangled in the ragged carpet; she couldn't get a footing as she was dragged to the door.

Mrs. Miller glanced out, before pulling Luca to her feet and into her arms, Cosimo held tightly. Luca was crying silently, her eyes wide with terror as Mrs. Miller hobbled down the hallway, tears in her own eyes.

She ran into a far bedroom, slamming the door behind her and dropping Luca on the bed.

"This room used to belong to my father, it should hold…for a little while," she gasped, stumbling around the room and grabbing a few things which she threw into her bag. "Little Alessia, I'm not going to be able to follow you. I'm afraid I'm a little too old to run away; you'll be faster on your own. There's a letter in here; a letter to an important man…he'll help you. And money. You're a bright girl, so use it wisely—" Her voice cracked.

Luca sniffed and rubbed at her face, a whining sob coming out of her.

"Oh my little one…" muttered Mrs. Miller as she went over to Luca and put her hands on her shoulders. "I'm so sorry that this is happening to you…I wish…I…" She wiped at her face, before glancing at the door. The sound of breaking glass and stomping feet was drawing closer.

"You're a good girl, Alessia. Your Mama and Papa would be so proud of you. But you have to run now," She pulled Luca to her feet, placing a small leather purse in her hands and leading her to the closet. With a tug, the door swung open.

It looked like any normal closet, at least to Luca. There were dusty coats and other mysterious garments, but nothing that looked like an escape.

Mrs. Miller suddenly lifted her up to the top shelf, which was strangely empty. There was what looked like an opening on the ceiling.

"Alessia, push that and climb up!" she hissed, doing her best to lift her. Hiccupping, Luca complied, her shaky fingers pushing the lid, opening a dark hole in the ceiling. "That's the attic up there, don't be afraid, it's fine—"

Luca was halfway into the attic when the door was kicked open. She let out a piercing scream as Mrs. Miller fell against the wall in a mixture of unsteadiness and sudden fear, but managed to cling to the edges of the opening, her arms and chest in the attic and her legs hanging free.

"Ah, grab the brat!" shouted a harsh voice.

"Run Alessia!" screamed Mrs. Miller, staggering to her feet. Luca scrambled into the attic, her knees scraping against the edges. She had almost got inside, when a strong hand seized her left ankle and yanked her downwards.

"Gotcha, you little—ARGH!" She kicked the man (judging by the voice) in the face, before struggling to pull out of his grip, but her small arms weren't strong enough to hold her weight. When the man tugged her again, she fell into his arms.

"Fight them!" shouted Mrs. Miller over the sound of various voices. Everything was loud and hectic, Luca wasn't sure how many people there were, or what they looked like. All she could do was yowl like an angry cat and twist in her captor's arms, her legs and arms flailing wildly. The man's arm moved to choke her, she titled her head down at an angle that made her neck hurt and sank her teeth into his skin, causing him to scream and drop her.

"Stupid child!" screamed a shrill voice, before a sharp pain exploded across her face. The woman had hit her.

Terrified Luca fell to the floor and scrambled towards the closet, screaming blindly. She was stopped when a cold hand wrapped around the nape of her neck and pushed her roughly against the floor.

Things ground to a near silence as Luca looked up. Mrs. Miller was being held by a large man who had his arms underneath hers, keeping her from moving. Her eyes were closed, as if she was sleeping, but a rising red bump on her forehead said otherwise.

Luca stared up at the leader of the group of attackers, immediately recognizing her. It was the red woman again, only this time she was wearing a deep blue color. Her blonde hair was messy and standing up in strange places, and she looked positively livid.

Her eyes blazed as they stared down at Luca, before turning to Mrs. Miller.

"Well…it appears you weren't going to hand the girl over to us after all. I was hoping you would be intelligent about this, Miller. But what do I really care? Really, killing you off as well is a favor to my brother."

She turned back to Luca.

"But, first things first. Kill that brat, Niko. And do it quickly, we don't want any more…mistakes." She spat.

The man holding Luca chuckled softly, before pressing down on her neck. Luca let out a squeal of pain, tears welling in her eyes.

"Let…her…go…" growled a weak male voice. It was familiar somehow.

The now blue-woman gave an amused laugh.

"Oh so he speaks now? Ha! Bring that lowlife forwards, let's see if he'll finally talk."

Luca turned her head to see none other than Azzuro being drug forwards, his white button down shirt bloody and torn. His left eye was swollen and only half open, and his hair was lose.

"Uncle!" she screamed, twisting. But the man had a good grip on her, and she didn't move more than an inch total.

"Hi, kiddo—!" He started, attempting a grin. But the woman kicked him in the stomach, cutting him off.

"Cut the chitchat, Azzuro!" she snapped, before grabbing his hair and making him look at her, their faces close. "A week and a half without one single word and all you can do is greet that little brat?!"

"Hm, you should watch your expression; your face could get stuck scrunched up like that if you're not careful."

"Insolent bastard!" she snapped, slapping him. "I want some answers! About you and about that girl!"

"What does it matter, you're going to kill us anyway, aren't you?" he countered, his voice taking on a more serious luster.

The woman's lip rose in a sneer.

"If that's the case, then I'll just kill you, Miller, and the little brat and be done with it." She pulled a knife out of her belt and placed it under Azzuro's neck, pulling his head back.

He didn't flinch when she pressed it harder against his skin, making it bleed.

"Don't!" screamed Luca, her voice loud in the bedroom. Her eyes were flooding with tears as she watched her uncle fixedly. She didn't want to lose another family member!

"Isn't that cute," drawled the woman, glancing at her. "Looks like you have a way with children. She seems to have quite a liking for you, I can't understand why."

"Of course you wouldn't. Any cold hearted bitch like you wouldn't…Gah!"

Her knee connected with his stomach as she pulled the knife away, letting out a laugh. Azzuro doubled over coughing, blood dripping from his bottom lip.

Luca continued to cry, her body shaking with fear and anger at the way the woman was treating her uncle. The man holding her just let out a laugh and shifted his weight, pressing down on the middle of her back.

"The remainder of the Canzone family ends here and now!" cried the woman, kicking Azzuro again. "With you, half blooded though you are, and with that brat, the last true heir of that family!"

Luca felt a surge of anger as she lay on the carpet. She didn't want to die. She didn't want her Uncle, or Mrs. Miller to die. It was wrong!

"Leave him alone, evil old hag!" she screamed, trying to wiggle free. The woman turned and stared at her, before turning to her captor.

"Shut the damn brat up, why don't you?!"

The man grabbed the back of her head and slammed Luca's face into the floor, sending an explosion of pain from her nose across her face. She let out a cry before remaining still as something hot and wet spread across her face and onto the carpet.

When Luca put her hand to it and looked, she saw blood.

It ran down her fingers, leaving a red trail on her skin before dropping onto the carpet.

But that wasn't what kept her staring.

A tingling, cold sensation was spreading slowly through her fingers, and as Luca watched in confusion, she saw something pale blue and white flickering at the tips. Like a light blue colored fire.

As if knowing her gaze was on it, the flames grew bigger, spreading out across her palms. When she put her hands on the carpet, they left a strange imprint.

"O-oi! What the hell—?!" gasped the man holding on to her. Luca didn't know what possessed her to do it, but she twisted her body and grabbed onto his arm. The flames licked at the skin, making him scream and let go as they left and icy trail around his arm.

Luca turned around to stare at the man who was clawing at the ice on arm, while the rest of the room looked on.

The blue-woman opened her mouth and started to shout something, but Luca couldn't hear what was being said. The whole room spun, and she fell to her knees as the flames moved up her arms. But they didn't hurt. It was a somewhat refreshing kind of cold, like the creek near her old house on a hot day. But…what she didn't know what was happening to her. Her body felt so tired, weak.

Everything went black for what seemed like minutes, but when she was able to raise her head, it seemed that only a few seconds had past.

The first thing she heard was the sound of breaking glass, followed by something large and heavy slamming into her back and sending her sprawling.

Luca started to scream and try to get free, only to have it press harder against her.

"Stay down!" shouted a familiar voice.

Luca turned her head to see Azzuro lying partly on top of her, his head upturned to look around the room. She could hear gunshots and yelling, but she wasn't sure what was going on.

He looked down at her suddenly; his blue eyes just the same as she remembered them.

"Jeez kiddo," he said, grinning slightly, "You almost look as bad as I feel. Just hang on a bit longer, some buddies of mine are gonna help us out."

Luca couldn't utter a word; all she could do was cry.

***

"Luca honey, stop crying!" Azzuro exclaimed, patting her back awkwardly as she clung to him.

He winced as he slid into the backseat of a car, the bandages across his neck and midsection tight and uncomfortable.

"You never seemed much like the motherly type," laughed a rough male voice from the front passenger seat. Azzuro made sure Luca wasn't looking and gave the guy the finger, before helping her to get her seatbelt on.

"Hrm, she's kinda cute for a kid though," growled the driver, turning to glance at Luca. He had a shaved head and a pair of dark glasses; Luca shrank against Azzuro's side, her small fingers clutching his arm, while her free hand held Cosimo tight.

Azzuro could only look at her, frowning slightly at the large white bandage across her nose. When the _cazzo _hit her, he had broken the poor kid's nose.

Miller had taken a worse hit; a nasty concussion and a broken wrist. She wasn't riding with them. A third man had ridden away in an ambulance with her, to make sure she wasn't going to be targeted.

"Damn bastards," he growled, shifting in his seat, before looking at the two men. "What the hell took you two so damned long anyway?"

"It wasn't easy finding the place!" snapped the first man, "And plus, you weren't very clear with that damned plead for help in the first place! Since when did 'Azzuro the great assassin who doesn't need anybody' ask for some backup?!"

"_Vaffanculo!" _Snapped back Azzuro, "Do you really think after getting my ass handed to me I could really take on the Nerezza famiglia by myself? Serafina was there for god's sake!"

"Tch, she wasn't that difficult to deal with. But that aside, what in the hell happened to you Azzuro? And what the hell is going on?! Boss didn't tell us much; he just kind rushed us out the door, saying an old family friend was in some deep _merda_."

Azzuro frowned and looked down at Luca.

"Cover your ears, little _princessa_, you don't need to hear this part."

She looked up at him and obliged, her hands covering her ears. But…little did he know, she hadn't covered them to where she couldn't hear.

Azzuro patter her on the head, before leaning back in his seat and pushing a few stray hairs out of his face.

"It seems that the Nerezza famiglia found out about mine, the Canzone. And they did their research on just who our…great grandmother was. Now, keep in mind guys, that if you weren't Varia, I wouldn't be tellin' you one little bit."

He leaned forwards, licking his lips.

"My great grandmamma was a direct line from one of the Vongola Primo's guardians. Now, no one's too sure of exactly who or what, but from what my Pop told me when I was a kid, she carried some strange strain of flame. Not much is known about it, but it had something to do with ice.

"That aside, the Nerezza famiglia got wind of that info, and wanted the research. My brother didn't want to comply; famiglia don't reveal secrets, especially to a lot like that. So, they got a bit pissed. From what I know, they decided to forgo research and wipe out my famiglia completely, and that's where this little one comes in.

"I got to my brother's house a tad too late… But, little Luca here was alive. So I got her the hell outta there. But the Nerezza famiglia caught wind; I tried to lead them off the trail, but they caught me and locked me up for a week and a half. And that's where you two come in." He finished, leaning back and crossing his long legs.

He tugged at Luca's hands to signal she could relax; she dropped them and leaned against his side, her mind buzzing as it processed what she had overheard.

His scent of stale alcohol, cigarettes and sweat comforted her a little. Luca was still scared, but she felt safe with her Uncle, even if he had been gone for so long. And now she knew that he hadn't abandoned her.

The two men up front were silent as the car hit what looked like an expressway.

"Uncle…" muttered Luca in a soft voice. "Where are we going?"

He looked down at her.

"To the house of a good man," he replied, "The boss of the Vongola famiglia. He's gonna help us out."

She stared at him.

"You should get some sleep, little princessa. It's going to be a long drive."


	5. The Vongola, Timoteo, and Xanxus

**Ciaossu~!**

**So here we are, five chapters in, and as promised, we will finally see some cannons! Yay!**

**Um...the chapter is a little long to warn you.**

**:D**

**Oh, and for you guys (seeing as so far, I have nearly all new reviewers here), there are two pics I did for this story that can be found here (minus the spacing because doesn't like links):**

_http ://shadowtigerkitten. deviantart. com /art/ Cinnamon-and-Gold-Teaser-Page- 146215564_

**and here:**

_http: //shadowtigerkitten. deviantart. com/art/ Azzuro-Vendatte- 145495179_

* * *

**MiAquaN:** Aw, thank you! Hope the update didn't take too long for you~

**PhoenixRage92:** For the most part she is. But it's moreso shock than anything. Thanks for reviewing! :D

**dorkball007:** You'll see soon enough who it was. :D

**steel-alchemist:** I'm glad you thought so. Thanks for reviewing~!

**As always, my thanks goes out to all those who favorited, alerted, and reviewed!**

**Happy Reading!**

**=^-^=  
**

* * *

*Chapter 5*

Like Azzuro had said, the drive was long.

When Luca opened her eyes, the sky was a reddish purple color, meaning it was nearly morning.

Just as she lifted her head from Azzuro's lap, she felt the car slow to a stop in a place with large bright streetlights. Confused, she sat more upright, noticing a strange fancy looking jacket sliding off of her shoulders.

She gave a start when Azzuro twitched and let out a snore, before he mumbled in his sleep and titled his head against the window. Luca wanted to laugh at him; his mouth was hanging open, and he was snoring loudly, the loose hair in front of his face moving with each breath. But there was a more pressing matter; she could feel eyes on her.

Luca slowly turned her head to see the one of the men staring at her from the passenger's seat, his expression amused and calm. She stiffened slightly as their eyes met, her hands seeking out Cosimo and holding him tightly.

"It's alright there, kiddo," he chuckled, "I'm not gonna bite ya."

He had a soft voice, despite the scary expression and heavy scar across the left side of his face. He looked away and out the window; Luca did the same, noting silently that the other man; the driver, was missing.

It looked like they were in the parking lot of a restaurant of some sort. Luca didn't recognize it as somewhere she had been before, but the name of the place rang a bell.

_'Spizzico*'_ said the giant neon sign over the front door, and in the windows. It looked like a fast food place, and, as she narrowed her eyes in the dull light, she noticed that it was one of those fast food places that shared with another place. _'Burger King'_ said the other part of the sign, in smaller neon lettering.

But why were they there?

Luca turned to stare fixedly at the man sitting in the front, who was putting on a pair of gloves. He slipped them on and flexed them once, before opening the door and walking out. Luca sat back on her knees and stretched her neck to follow him as he moved to the back end of the car, opening the trunk.

After a few minutes of shuffling around, doing who knows what, he slammed it shut and moved to Azzuro's window.

Luca stared as he suddenly wrenched the door open, causing Azzuro fall out and onto the ground.

"Take cover, they're firing on us!" he cried, shaking Azzuro's shoulder with a grin.

"W-what?!" gasped Azzuro, sitting upright with a start, his hands reaching for a weapon that wasn't there. Then he caught on.

"_Bastardo!" _he shouted, punching the man on the arm, "You scared me half to fucking death! What the hell, Anton?! I should fucking beat your a—" His last word was broken by a loud yawn, before he looked around.

"Where the hell are we?"

"Spizzico," answered Anton, "I thought you two might wanna eat something before we hit headquarters, as well as clean up. I mean, you look like you just got the shit beat out of you, and the kid looks like hell."

He shoved a large bag into Azzuro's arms.

"Here's some clothes; lucky thing Calder's got a kid about her age, otherwise she'd have to run around with that rag."

"Tch, thanks."

Azzuro turned to Luca, frowning slightly.

"Damn, you do need some cleaning up…" He crouched down beside the backseat and stared at her fixedly. "Well, my little Luca," he said in a lower, softer voice, "Are you hungry?"

* * *

Luca frowned and rested her chin on her hands as she stared at the two men, Calder and Anton. Both were sitting awkwardly across from her, looking around the restaurant and only every now and again looking at her.

Azzuro had gone to order some food for both himself and Luca, walking a little stiffly as he went, the lent clothing and bandages uncomfortable.

The dress Luca was now wearing was a little big for her, but she liked it. It was fluffy at the bottom, and she couldn't help but trace her fingers across the small dots that adorned the bright white material.

Azzuro had been a little confusing when they had gone to the bathroom to change clothing.

Though Luca was able to dress herself, she was used to having Mrs. Miller help her brush her hair, wash up, and help adjust what dress she was wearing.

Her Uncle on the other hand was clumsy and awkward, sending her into one of the bathroom stalls to change into her dress, before getting frustrated when he couldn't get the knots out of her hair. He finally gave up when she yelped in pain from it, and muttered that she was a 'big girl' so she should be able to do it herself. Then he stomped out of the bathroom, cussing under his breath.

Luca couldn't help but feel a little pride when she finally stumbled out of the bathroom; she hadn't done too bad cleaning herself up, and even Azzuro seemed pleased.

But she couldn't help a slight chuckle at his appearance. The clothing that he had borrowed was a little small for him; the bottom of the pinstriped dress pants was short enough that she could see his ankles, and he couldn't tuck in his shirt because it was too short as well. And he had attempted tame his hair; it was now slicked back into a familiar neat ponytail at the base of his neck, except for a few short strands that hung down on his forehead.

"What the hell are you snickering about?" he snapped, "I didn't choose 'em, so it isn't my fault!"

Luca just smiled at him, before he led her to the table.

Azzuro seemed to be taking his time; leaving her sitting there across from the two men.

She felt small sitting there, her legs swinging freely in midair, while both men—who were nearly as tall as her Uncle—sat so awkwardly across from her.

It was a little surprising to think that the Calder—the more scary looking of the two—had a daughter about her own age. Luca couldn't help but stare at him, her mind going to her own father.

She still missed them.

It was something she was becoming accustomed to, a dull pain that spiked every now and again, but nothing would change the fact that she missed her Mama's cooking and soft spoken teachings, and her Papa's playful but regal disposition.

But…she didn't feel as alone as before. She had her Uncle. And he wasn't horrible; of course he couldn't replace her parents, but…Luca felt she was starting to love him, the same way she had loved them.

She smiled a little bit to herself as she tried to straighten Cosimo's mane; during all the nasty business with the Red/Blue-woman, he had gotten a little messy.

"Ah, what's her name, little one?" asked a gruff voice.

Luca looked up to see Calder staring at her, a kindly smile on his face.

She hugged her lion and buried her face in his mane, before muttering.

"_His_ name is Cosimo."

He gave her a chuckle, before holding out his hand.

"Can I see him?"

"Un-uh," she muttered, shaking her head and hugging him tighter.

"Aw come on, I'm not gonna hurt him!" he replied, reaching out and grabbing hold of Cosimo.

"No!" gasped Luca, holding tight to him.

"Would you stop scaring my niece? Geez," sighed Azzuro as he appeared suddenly, a tray laden with food in hand.

"I wasn't trying to scare her," laughed Calder, "It's not my fault she's shy…and what the hell is all of that, Azzuro?!"

"What?" He slid into the booth beside Luca, passing her two panzerotti* wrapped in paper. On the tray were five cheeseburgers, and by the looks of it, all for Azzuro.

"You fat ass!" laughed Anton, before stealing one. Calder followed suite, leaving Azzuro with only two hamburgers and a very displeased expression.

"_Bastardos…_" he muttered, before taking a huge bite of his.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, they were speeding along on the Autostrada*, radio blasting Italian rock and Azzuro singing horribly out of tune along with it.

Luca was feeling mildly uncomfortable, but not because of her Uncle's singing. No, she was beginning to feel car sick, and the fast paced, swerving tendencies of Anton—who had switched to driving to give Calder a break—were starting to get to her.

A few more miles, and she was starting to feel _really_ sick.

Luckily, Anton had turned back to yell at Azzuro at that moment, and in seeing her pale, greenish face, decided it was _extremely _wise to alert all that she was about to "puke her guts out" right then and there.

They made a quick pit stop to let Luca do what she needed to do, before giving her a large bottle of water and telling her to warn them if she felt sick again.

* * *

Luca, feeling uncomfortable, had fallen back asleep right as the car crunched to a stop outside a large iron gate. She jolted upright with surprise when she heard Anton speaking to someone outside the window.

Before she could be certain of what was going on, the car was moving again, and a large building was coming into view.

"Welcome to the Vongola mansion~!" called out Calder, winking at her as they turned left and rolled to a stop beside a large fountain.

Azzuro kicked open the door and staggered out of the car, bending towards his toes before leaning back in a long stretch. Luca stared at him, feeling overwhelmed by the large building.

"Come on, little princessa," called out Azzuro, glancing back at her.

Luca scrambled out of the car at once, gravel crunching under her feet. Azzuro began walking at once, making a little surprised chuckle when Luca reached up and grabbed his hand.

* * *

The house was huge.

Luca kept close to Azzuro's side as he walked comfortable through the main hallway, and she could tell immediately that he knew the place well.

A few strange people waved to them as Azzuro led Luca up a flight of stairs and into a smaller hallway. There were paintings lining both sides of the windowless hallway, each with a painting of a person, and eight in total.

The paintings started from a blonde, spiky haired man to all the way to a painting of a pretty woman with flowers tattooed on her cheek.

Luca wanted to ask who they were, seeing as they all looked important, but Azzuro was walking too fast and seemed determined to open the door at the end of the hall.

"Alright, Luca," he muttered, stopping out front of the door to her surprise. He bent down beside her and tried to neaten her hair. "The man inside that room is the _Vongola Nono_; he's a very important man… Stand up straight, and be nice, alright?"

She nodded in reply, feeling more and more afraid as the seconds ticked by. Azzuro smiled slightly, before standing up and taking a deep breath and straightening his shoulders. He knocked three times.

"Come in," called out a slightly raspy male voice.

As Azzuro opened the door, Luca shrank against his leg, feeling a little terrified.

She was all but dragged into the room by Azzuro, who was a little irked at her sudden reaction. But he didn't say anything as he let go of her hand and approached the owner of the raspy voice; a moderately old looking man with a serious face and whitish-grey hair.

"Boss," muttered Azzuro, dropping down on one knee and taking the man's hand.

"Ah, it is good to see you again, Azzuro Vendatte. I am sorry for your loss; your brother and sister-in-law were good people…Please take my condolences and apology for not being able to help them in their time of need."

"Thank you, Boss," he murmured, before standing up.

"Ah, is that your niece?" asked the man, turning to stare at Luca.

"Yeah," replied Azzuro. "Come here, Luca."

Obediently but fearfully she walked over to her Uncle, eyes down cast and Cosimo held tightly to her chest.

Azzuro turned her to face the man, pushing her forwards a little.

"You don't need to be afraid," said the man in a softer voice, putting his hand on the top of her head. Luca looked up slowly to see him leaning towards her, smiling gently. "What's your name?"

Luca felt a little less afraid, and managed to stammer.

"L-Luca Alessia C-Canzone."

"And his?" asked the man, pointing at her lion.

"C-Cosimo."

The man let out a soft laugh, his eyes soft and friendly.

"Nice to meet you, Luca and Cosimo… My name is Timoteo; welcome to my home."

* * *

Azzuro had other business to attend to with the 'Boss' as he continued to call him, and Luca thought she would stay with him during it, but the Boss suggested that she needed something to do so not to get too bored.

"Adult life is boring to a child, and they should be able to enjoy themselves," he had said to Azzuro who had protested that Luca would be fine staying there. Timoteo bent down to address her again.

"Would you like to meet my son? I'm afraid he's a bit older than you, but, he would be better company than us adults... Would you like that, Luca?"

She nodded slowly, not feeling like disagreeing with the nice man.

A few minutes later, she was being led by the Boss himself through the house to where his son was.

Luca didn't know what she should expect the Boss' son to be like, but she hoped he would be nice. It had been a long while since she had been around anyone near her own age; not since before her Mama and Papa died.

It felt like they had been walking nearly to the other side of the building, before the Boss finally stopped outside a door.

The sound coming from the other side made Luca back into her Uncle and hold tightly to his leg, her eyes widening.

It sounded like a full on battle was going on inside that room; Luca was almost tempted to run away, if not for her Uncle being there.

"Don't worry, he's in the middle of sparring lessons," assured the Boss, before opening the door.

Luca held tight to Azzuro as they entered the room; she wanted to close her eyes, afraid of what she might see, but she couldn't help but feel curious at the same time.

The room wasn't a bedroom, like she had expected, but a large room with padded walls, two basketball hoops, and a shiny hardwood floor. And on it were two people who were at the moment fighting at a rapid pace.

"What the hell do you call that, trash?!" yelled a boy, punching a man in the face before bouncing backwards.

"Keep your arms in a defensive position!" snapped the man who had been punched, before rushing forwards.

"Don't tell me what to do, I already fucking know that!" yelled the boy in response, before attempting to elbow the man in the stomach, missing and instantly changing stance to kick at the man's knee. He made contact, and the man fell forwards, before aiming to kick the boy's legs out from under him. But the boy was fast and dodged it, instead kicking the man in the collar bone.

"Enough," groaned the downed man after a moment, "That's enough for the day."

"Tch, weakling," scoffed the boy, before backing up and adjusting his shirt.

The Boss began clapping, the sound echoing through the room.

The boy jerked his head up at the sound, turning to face Luca, the Boss, and Azzuro.

"Very good, Xanxus," said the Boss, smiling. "You're improving by the day."

"Che," he scoffed in reply as he walked up to them. "Who the hell are these two?"

Luca felt her Uncle stiffen slightly, but he didn't say anything.

The Boss seemed unfazed.

"This is Azzuro Vendatte and his niece Luca. They're going to be staying with us for a while, and I was hoping you could keep an eye on little Luca here while her Uncle and I discuss some things."

Before Luca knew what was happening, she was standing in front of the boy.

When the Boss said his son was older than her, she had expected it to be by a few years, not that he would be a _teenager._

He towered over her with a very displeased expression, his eyes angry. Luca held Cosimo tightly, feeling as if she was slowly shrinking under such an intense gaze.

"I have to babysit this little snot?" he growled, wiping blood from his lip. "No thanks."

"Xanxus," said the Boss in a more authorative voice, "I'm asking you nicely to watch over this girl, so would you please do that for me?"

Xanxus stared fixedly at his father for a good minute, before looking away.

"Fine."

"Thank you," replied the Boss, stepping back. "I trust you will be nice; she is a delicate little flower, after all."

Azzuro approached Luca suddenly, his back stiff. It almost seemed as if he didn't like Xanxus, by the way he pushed between him and Luca.

"Behave yourself," he said softly, running his fingers through her hair. In a lower voice he added, "And don't let that spoiled little brat push you around, huh?"

"O-okay, Uncle…" she muttered, feeling something akin to tears. She didn't want to be left with the scary boy, but it looked like she had no choice.

"That's my girl," he said, before standing up and following the Boss out of the room.

The door shut with a click, sealing her fate, or so it felt.

Luca couldn't look at Xanxus, afraid that he would snap at her. So instead she stood there quietly, hugging Cosimo.

"Tch," scoffed the boy suddenly, before pushing past her towards the door. Luca watched as he started to leave, only to flinch when he stopped and glanced back at her.

"Stop standing there and come with me, stupid girl! I can't just leave you here!" he snarled.

Pressing her lips together to keep herself from crying out, hot tears in the corners of her eyes, she skittered after him.

* * *

**Oh gosh, taking after a certain author on here *cough* Grenouille-san *cough* Here's some footnotes!**

***Autostrada-from what I read on it, it's basically a big highway in Italy. The usual speed limit is about...80mph or so. (scary stuff)**

*******Spizzico-It's the main fastfood company in Italy. I looked up images to try and get an idea, and apparently sometimes they share with other fast food places. Like I saw a Spizzico/Burger King. The main staple for them is pizza, calzones, and fried panzarotti.**

***Panzarotti-it's like a calzone, but smaller. They're more commonly filled with tomato and mozzerella, but there's other kinds too.**

**Alright, well that's it!**

**(and I hope I did well enough with Xanxus and Timoteo...)  
**


	6. Babysitting

**Ciaossu~!**

**Alright, so...*grins* I think you guys will enjoy this chapter...**

**I don't really have too much to say, so read on! :D**

grenouille-85: you were very right about that~~~

PhoenixRage92: Well...we'll see. :D

steel-alchemist: aww, I'm sorry if I made you crave pizza XD And thank you.

Kyoro: Heheh, glad to hear it. Here you go~

* * *

*chapter 6*

_I don't like that man. I must get to know him better. ~Abraham Lincoln_

_In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit. ~Albert Schweitzer_

_***_

_

* * *

  
_

Luca followed Xanxus down the hallway, her eyes on the back of his head.

He was a scary, and he seemed mean. Luca didn't like him one bit.

And not liking him seemed to give her a little more confidence; she pushed to match his pace instead of trailing behind like a little lost puppy. The tears she had carried earlier seemed silly to her now; she assured herself that they were more over being separated from Azzuro than anything else.

Luca broke out of her thoughts when a light breeze hit her face; her eyes moved to spot a large open balcony ahead and to the left. The smell coming from it smelled like flowers.

"Where the hell are you going?!" snapped Xanxus as she went tearing past him. She didn't answer; too intent on seeking out what she hoped would be…

A garden.

But she was incorrect; what stretched before her was…a _gigantic_ garden.

"Wow!" she gasped, standing on her tip-toes so she could see over the stone railing. The biggest garden she had ever seen was a floor below, complete with a statues, cobblestone paths, gazebos, and a few fountains. A well kept hedge acted as the border around the whole thing, while a delicate looking white gate led to a mysterious 'other' place.

The smell of the garden was mixed with the scent of fruit, summer, and flowers. It made Luca think of her Mama, who used to keep a garden that smelled almost the same, despite being many times smaller.

"Tch, it's just a bunch of plants," scoffed Xanxus, frowning behind her. "Big frickin' deal. Are we done? I have better things to do that wait on you, brat."

Luca turned around to face him, irritance seeping into her happy mood.

"It's not brat. My name is Luca," she corrected, her eyebrows contracting slightly.

"Che," he turned away and continued walking down the hallway. Luca followed after one last longing look at the garden, her expression set.

"How old are you?" she asked, catching up. Her legs were a little tired from trying to keep up with him, but she wasn't going to say anything.

"Fourteen," he muttered, glancing at her.

"I'm five," she replied, even though he hadn't asked. "Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

Xanxus' eyebrow twitched slightly.

"No."

"Me either."

"I didn't ask," he growled. They turned a corner and walked past a few servants who stared, before shying away, eyes fearful. Luca glanced at Xanxus who didn't look fazed in the least; were they afraid of him?

Well, Luca could understand that. He wasn't just scary looking, but acted to match the part. But why? His papa didn't seem mean, and he had a nice house…why was he so angry?

At the moment, she couldn't be sure why. She decided for the moment that it was probably 'teen stuff'.

"Where are we going?" she asked, as they started walking up a flight of stairs. He didn't answer, and didn't wait for her, even though she was having trouble climbing the steps. He was already to the top and walking away when she had only just reached the middle.

"Wait!" she called, when he was almost out of sight, having turned a corner. Luca broke into a run; even if Xanxus was mean and unfriendly, she was supposed to stick with him, and she didn't want to end up alone in such a big house.

"Damn you're slow," he growled, looking back at her when she finally caught up. He opened a large door and walked inside; Luca followed suite, closing the door with a soft click.

The room was moderately sized; a large bed took up a large portion of it, the deep red blankets neatly folded and matching curtains drawn back to let in sunlight. A large desk was beneath the window, complete with a comfortable desk chair, and a small personal computer.

Without asking, she knew that this was his room. But she was surprised at how clean it was; usually boys had messy rooms, like Azzuro.

"Don't touch anything," he warned, before going to what seemed to be a closet. He pulled out a white shirt and to Luca's complete surprise took off the one he was wearing, replacing it with the fresh one.

He didn't even look back at her as he dropped into a chair, grabbing a stack of papers and browsing through them. After a moment or two, he leaned back, propping his legs on top the desk and kicking off his shoes, all the while ignoring her completely.

She figured that if he was going to ignore her, then she would do the same. But standing there in boredom would be pointless, so she looked around, spotting a bookshelf off her left. There were many books, and to her surprise, a few photographs in nice shiny silver frames.

It was too tempting; she _had_ to examine them more closely. And so she did.

The first picture was of Xanxus when he was somewhat younger (she could tell because he wasn't quite that tall yet) standing next to his papa; Xanxus was scowling and looking away, while his papa was smiling softly and looking at what felt like Luca herself.

Another one showed him dressed formally in what looked like a school uniform, and it looked more recent. She picked it up when she noticed something sticking out of the back of the frame; it looked like a corner of a paper.

Luca gently slid it out from the back of the frame, too curious to ignore it.

The picture wasn't in very good condition; it was a little worn, the colors a little funny, the edges tattered. But…it still caught her eye.

Xanxus looked about her age in it, and was standing next to a woman with long dark hair and the same eyes. On closer inspection, she looked a little ill and little ragged. Xanxus even looked a little filthy, but most little boys did.

Luca turned towards Xanxus, walked a few steps, and then stopped.

"Is that your Mama?" she asked, looking up at him. He slowly looked up from his papers, before his face turned a very scary red. In an instant he was on his feet and charging towards her; Luca's eyes went wide and she found herself backing up a few feet.

"I told you not to touch anything!" he shouted, snatching the picture from her and pushing her backwards in the process. But he had pushed her too hard and she crashed against the bookshelf, sending an avalanche of books and the few photo frames to the floor when one of the shelves collapsed.

Tears quickly filled Luca's eyes as stinging pain spread across her back. But Xanxus only turned his back on her and stuck the picture in his pocket.

"Get out…" he growled, his hand curling into a fist. Luca could see him shaking with anger, and to her surprise, so was she.

"I said get out of my room!" he shouted, turning around.

Luca jumped to her feet in an instant; angry tears starting to roll down her cheeks.

"You…you asshole!" she shrieked, picking up a book and throwing it at him before running out of the room.

* * *

She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, not caring where she was going. At one point, Luca tripped and went sprawling on the carpet, but even the sharp pain of a rug burn on her knees couldn't stop her.

The only place she could think of was the garden, so she ran as fast as she could towards the nearest staircase, stumbling down it at a moderate pace, legs too short to allow her to rush.

Why had he gotten so angry? It was just a picture!

Luca wiped at her face, trying to get rid of the tears still streaming down her cheeks. She made herself focus on trying to find the garden; there had to be a way out to it from where she was!

As if in answer, a faint floral scent reached her nostrils. Following it, she found herself reaching an open window that looked out over part of the garden, and just to her luck, it was only a few feet above it. If she was careful, she could just climb out and not have to worry about a proper door…

* * *

Xanxus paced back and forth in his room, cursing all the while. The girl…she had run off somewhere. Not that he really cared, but…his father wasn't going to be pleased. The idea of being grounded was amusing, as it had only happened a few times before, but…he didn't really look forward to the idea of it. It would be annoying, and a hassle, much like the girl.

Why the hell was _he_ chosen to watch over her anyway?

As he thought up reasons, he kicked his door open and stormed out. His father knew he didn't like being bothered, and knew he wasn't patient with kids, let alone liked them…so what possible reason could he have for dropping _her_ off with him?

It wasn't like she was anyone important; she was _just_ Azzuro-bastard's niece, wasn't she? And the guy was an ex-varia member, so...he didn't have much importance himself, right?

Xanxus stopped suddenly when he reached the stairs.

If that was the case, his father shouldn't have bothered with making him babysit…unless…

Maybe she _was_ important somehow?

Xanxus was becoming more and more indecisive; if his father thought the girl was ranking high enough that _he_, the upcoming Vongola Decimo, would have to babysit her…maybe…maybe…_maybe_ he should go find her.

As he reached the bottom of the stairs, he assured himself that he was really just practicing being a responsible boss, and didn't give a damn otherwise.

* * *

After examining the garden, Luca found herself a comfortable spot under a shady weeping willow tree where she sat curled up, her knees to her chest and chin resting on her arms.

She was still shaken from Xanxus' anger; it made her feel small, and made her feel weak. She didn't like that.

"And I don't like him, either." she said aloud to Cosimo. Of course, there was no answer.

Luca found herself crying again.

She felt lonely.

Other than her uncle, she didn't have anyone to talk to. She had no friends, no other family. It made her feel very alone.

She hated being alone.

"Tch, there you are," called out a voice. Luca looked up to see Xanxus stomping towards her, looking very displeased.

Her heart started pounding with fear; was he going to knock her down again? Yell at her? And she didn't want him to see her cry; he would probably yell at her for that too.

Luca staggered to her feet and, putting Cosimo in her teeth, turned and started climbing the willow tree.

"Hey!" snapped Xanxus, running up to her and trying to catch her foot. But she was faster than he was, and was already making her way to the top branches.

"Get down here, damn it! I'm not climbing up there to save you if you get stuck!"

"Go away!" she snapped back, "You're just a big mean jerk, so leave me alone!"

Luca sat herself down on the highest branch she could manage, her legs dangling downwards. The branch was bending slightly under her weight, but it seemed to hold. She stared down at Xanxus angrily; why did he have to come and bother her?

He was staring up at her angrily, his jaw set and eyes furious.

"Do know who the fuck you're talking to, brat?!" he seethed, "I'm going to be the next boss, so you'd better do what I say!"

"I don't care!" she yelled back, hugging Cosimo tightly. "Go away, asshole!"

She didn't think he could get any angrier, but he _did._

He looked at the ground for a moment, before looking back up at her, his hand suddenly exploding with a bright flame.

"Fine then," he hissed between his teeth. "If you won't willingly get down, I'll burn the whole goddamned tree and you with it!"

But he didn't need to threaten Luca, because not a moment sooner the branch beneath her broke with a loud snap, sending her downwards with a few other branches, her shrill scream echoing across the grounds.

Xanxus could only shield himself in time as a volley of leaves, twigs and branches rained down on him. One of the heavier ones struck his back; making him trip and land face down, hitting his head on a root sticking out of the ground in the process. Pain spread across his scalp as he lay there stunned.

A few seconds later, there was a light thump as Luca slid down the trunk of the tree to land unceremoniously on her backside beside him.

Seeing that he was still lying face down, she rolled onto her knees and shook him, her eyes wide.

"Hey, are you okay?" she asked, trying to roll him onto his back. But he was too heavy.

Luckily enough, he let out a groan and pushed himself into a sitting position a moment later, feeling a little dazed. His hand moved to a growing lump on the top of his head, before he looked at Luca angrily.

"You little bitch! Look what you did!" he shouted, raising his hand to hit her. She fell back before he could, her eyes wide and filling with tears.

Xanxus slowly lowered his hand; she looked so pitiful it was downright _disgusting._ He couldn't bring himself to hit her, and instead sat in a more comfortable position, inwardly wincing at the throbbing pain of his head.

"Y-You're bleeding…" muttered Luca. He glanced at her, to see that she was pointing at his face.

He reached up and found that his lip was bleeding. And all thanks to that _damned_ brat.

Just as he started to snap something at her, she jumped to her feet.

"Stay here!" she demanded, before running as fast as her little legs could carry her. Surprised, Xanxus watched as she went to a row of spiky, cactus looking plants. After a few moments, she ran back, holding a piece of one. She held it out to him.

"This is aloe; it'll make you feel better!"

He stared at it, and then her, scowling.

"I don't want it."

She frowned, but moved closer.

"But you're hurt. Luca will make it better!"

Before he could stop her, she pushed the broken end of the plant against his wound, making him flinch and swat at her hand.

She pulled back with a gasp, falling into a sitting position and staring at the ground, her eyes watering again.

Xanxus sniffed and glared at the piece of aloe; what the hell would some _girl_ know about plants anyway?! But…the pain in his lip had decreased a tiny bit from the juices; and it had felt pleasantly cold…

He reached out, picked the plant up, and pressed it to his lip, scowling all the while.

"There, happy?"

She didn't look up, hugging her lion and looking like she was going to start bawling at any second.

Damned _disgusting._

"Stop crying!" he snapped, only making things worse.

Luca burst into tears, covering her face with Cosimo at once. Sobs racked her body, and she couldn't help it.

Why was he being so mean? It was all his fault in the first place!

Xanxus got to his feet, throwing the aloe to the ground in frustration.

"I said stop crying, damn it!"

"HEY!" yelled a new voice.

He looked up just in time to see her uncle running across the garden, looking very angry. Within moments he reached Luca and scooped her into his arms, his face furious.

"Just what the hell do you think you're doing, making her cry like that?!" he shouted, walking towards Xanxus. "She's just a child, and she just lost her goddamned parents! Are you stupid or something?!"

Xanxus' eyes widened a little, but he wasn't going to let someone talk to him like that. His chest puffed out as he stood his ground, fists clenched.

"Xanxus," came a stern voice, making him freeze in his tracks. He turned to see his father standing on one of the balconies, looking very displeased.

"Che!" he scoffed, turning on his heel and stomping away. He wasn't about to be scolded in front of some nobody and his crybaby niece.

* * *

"Did he hurt you?" asked Azzuro as he pulled leaves out of Luca's hair.

She shook her head, tears still rolling down her cheeks.

"I…I was only trying to help him…" she admitted, before wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face in the collar of his shirt, embarrassed with crying so much, but unable to stop it.

Azzuro patted her back and walked towards the balcony, his eyes on the Ninth.

"I'm sorry about my son," he said, frowning as he looked down at Azzuro. "I'll talk to him… To make it up, would you like some late lunch?"

"It's alright, Boss," he replied, bouncing Luca. "I think she could use a nap; or I could at any rate…"

"Ah, I understand. Well then, dinner perhaps?"

"Sure!"

The ninth smiled.

"I'll have someone come and get you two when it's time. Until then, please rest sleep well."

"Thank you, Boss," replied Azzuro, before turning and walking away. Luca slowly looked up from Azzuro's shoulder to see the Boss wink at her before he too walked away.

Luca didn't say much as Azzuro carried her away, only lethargically sat in his arms, her head resting on his shoulder. At first, the idea of taking a nap was unpleasant, but…she realized that she was actually tired, and even started to doze after a little while, until someone called out to Azzuro.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Azzuro!" laughed a good natured voice.

Luca sat upright and turned around in her Uncle's arms to find a blonde, bespectacled man smiling at Azzuro.

"Tyr!" replied Azzuro, reaching out and clasping arms with him. The man, Tyr, stared at Luca curiously.

"Azzuro…is this your cute little niece I heard about?"

"Yeah," he chuckled in response. "This is Luca."

"I thought so! She looks just like her mother."

"I know," replied Azzuro, before shifting from foot to foot. "Uh, as much as I'd like to catch up…We're both a bit worn out… Is my room still intact?"

Tyr nodded, pushing his glasses up with a forefinger.

"Is hasn't been touched, surprisingly…other than a routine cleaning and all…so go right ahead. I actually have some business to attend to myself…so, catch you later perhaps?"

"We'll be around for a while, so yeah, no problem."

Azzuro and Tyr then parted ways, and Luca turned back to her former position to watch the blonde man walk away. He, as if knowing, glanced back and titled his at her, before turning a corner and disappearing.

"Who was that, Uncle?" asked Luca sleepily as they entered the mansion and a darker hallway.

"That's the leader of the Varia, Tyr," replied Azzuro, yawning loudly. "I used to work for him, a long while back. He's a good guy."

He opened a heavy looking door, entering bedroom with a faint resemblance to Xanxus', only it was smaller, with a small canopy bed draped in blue and silver bedding.

"Well, this is our room," muttered Azzuro, placing Luca on the edge of the bed. He went over to a dresser and rummaged through it, pulling out two bundles of clothing. He tossed one to Luca.

"Here, this'll be more comfortable than sleeping in your dress. Go change into it, okay?"

"Okay," replied Luca, sliding off the bed and walking to the small bathroom. She unfolded the bundle, finding a plain white T-shirt. When she put it on, after taking off her dress, it went past her knees. It smelled faintly like her uncle, but more dust than anything. But she wasn't going to complain.

When Luca came out of the bathroom, Azzuro was sitting on the edge of the bed in a pair of black and white striped pajama bottoms and a long sleeved white shirt. He looked up at her, his hair loose and falling over his eyes.

"Ready to sleep?" He asked, before falling back on the mattress. Luca climbed onto the bed and stared at him, a little unsure of what to do, seeing as she hadn't slept in the same bed with him before.

"Com'ere," he muttered, opening an eye to stare at her, one hand lazily lifting the blankets up for her. She smiled and slid beneath them, inhaling when she felt the cold of the blankets.

Azzuro seemed to fall asleep almost immediately, his breathing slowing down and deepening.

Luca yawned and rubbed at her eyes, before pulling Cosimo to her chest and holding him tightly. But he wasn't warming her up; and the bed was cold.

Slowly, almost gingerly so, she moved closer to Azzuro, feeling warmth radiating off of him.

She was sound asleep within minutes.

* * *

**Heh, Azzuro to the rescue! XD**

**So yeah, another foot note. Not much to say really, other than I hope again for not being too OOC, and...**

**_Tyr._**

**We all don't know too much about him, but...I have a picture of him. I'm not quite sure, because this is from the novels...but well, *shrugs* I'll leave it to you guys to decide. I uploaded the picture so you can see...**

**link: **http: . com/albums/mm37/ Shinigami_Asuka/? action=view¤t;=tyr. jpg


	7. Dinner Not Quite As Expected

**Ciaossu~!**

**Sorry for the long delay everyone, life is life, ya know?**

**Anyway, here's the new (longish) chapter!**

grenouille-85: heheh, thanks~

PhoenixRage92: Heh, glad to hear you like Luca so much XD She's quite the little firecracker, isn't she?

Yanu: Heh, I'm glad to hear that he's IC; I'm trying my hardest. But I do have to ask, what makes you say the picture isn't Tyr? I did explain that I was unsure if it was, but I'm hoping maybe you know who it is then? It's been bugging me for ages.

steel-alchemist: Ah, thanks so much. XD and Yes, Xanxus is quite the *** sometimes. lol

XqwertX: thanks! I'll do my best!

13Lulu's: Your brother's name is Luca? XD And I'm glad you like!

* * *

*chapter 7*

When Luca finally woke from her nap, she found her uncle sitting on the edge of the bed, already dressed and smoking a cigarette.

Her nose wrinkled when she inhaled the smoke; the window was open, but it still stank.

She let out a yawn and sat up, rubbing her eyes blearily.

"Ah, awake finally. Sleep good?" asked Azzuro, glancing back at her. "I was going to wake you kiddo, it's almost time to go meet the Boss for dinner."

She sat there watching him for a few more moments before he got up, put the cigarette out in a glass ashtray on the window, and turned around.

"You should go get dressed, little princessa."

* * *

"Can I ask what happened earlier today? With that jerk, Xanxus?" asked Azzuro as he led Luca through the many hallways that seemed to make up the mansion.

"He doesn't like me…"

"He doesn't seem to like much of anything," he scoffed in reply. "But what did he do to make you cry, huh?"

His tone of voice said more than his words; as mean as Xanxus was, she didn't want her Uncle making things worse…

"He was mad… I made him mad…" she looked up at Azzuro. "I didn't mean to!"

Frowning, he had her explain a little further.

"That little jerk!" seethed Azzuro, a few minutes later. "He made you cry over some picture?!"

Luca pressed her lips together as she trailed after him; now her uncle was mad too.

Stopping outside a door, Azzuro bent down and adjusted one of the cerulean bows in Luca's hair.

"You should keep away from him for now, on, got it?" he asked, scowling slightly. "We can always find you a playmate; I mean, Calder's got a girl your age…"

"Okay…" replied Luca, before taking his hand.

"Here we go…" muttered Azzuro, before opening the door.

Like everything in the mansion, it was a little overwhelming. And especially to Luca, who was used to small Victorian town houses and a little less extravagance. In fact, not only was it overwhelming, but a little intimidating too; enough so to make Luca feel even smaller than she already was.

The room was large with a domed ceiling painted to resemble and moderately clear sky; the right side of the room overlooked what seemed to an orchard, with beautiful stained glass casting colorful shadows across the other wall, which was blank. A large fireplace sat at the far end of the room, while in front of it sat the Vongola Nono, his hands folded on the large dining table.

"Ah, good evening, you two," he said softly, smiling all the while. Next to him sat a typically angry Xanxus, who was glaring daggers into the ceiling as he leaned back in his seat. The rest of the table was vacant.

Azzuro calmly took a seat two down from the ninth, while Luca sat across from Xanxus. He didn't even look at her as she settled into it, her chin just barely reaching above the table edge.

After a few moments, Azzuro and the Boss were engaged in conversation. It was obvious from the context that it wasn't interesting to Luca, so she turned back to watch Xanxus.

She wondered if he would stay angry with her after what had happened earlier that day; he didn't seem like the forgiving type…

"Stop staring at me," growled Xanxus in a low voice, his crimson eyes locking on hers. Luca blinked in reply, but didn't break eye contact with him.

She watched as he stiffened and leaned forwards over the table.

"I said stop it."

"That thing you did earlier…with your hand and the flame…how did you do it?" she asked, ignoring his command.

"Why?" he replied, sitting back and scowling. "You don't need to know."

"But I can do it," she replied, "I wanna know how to do it too."

He scowled and started to say something, but Azzuro suddenly put his hand down in on the table, inches away from Luca's nose.

"Hey, don't you have something to say to Luca? Something about earlier?"

Xanxus slowly turned his fierce gaze to Azzuro, a very slight sneer on his face.

"Like what, trash?"

"Not at the table, please," called out the Boss. Luca looked up at her uncle to see him leaning forwards over the table, his jaw set and his eyes furious. Slowly he sat back down, frowning, but complying.

Xanxus looked even angrier, but Luca could see he was a little satisfied.

"Luca, if you like, I can teach you how to sustain a dying will flame like Xanxus can."

Surprised, Luca turned to stare at the Boss. He smiled at her.

"Boss…" interrupted Azzuro in a low voice; Luca glanced up at him; was there something wrong with it?

"Now, now, if she's showing interest, there isn't any reason to keep her from learning it. I won't let her come to harm, after all." He reached out as if to pat him on the hand, despite being two seats away. "And please, I do understand your concern."

He paused as the doors opened and two people pushing carts came rolling in. Luca watched as they put silver domed platters on the table in front of the Boss and Xanxus, before removing the tops and exposing what she could only call a feast.

Xanxus was placed with a strange round steak and vegetables, while the Boss had a plate of chicken over rice with vegetables covered in white sauce.

The two servants then wheeled the carts around and came towards the other side of the table; Luca lowered her gaze self consciously as a plate was place in front of her, but the smell coming from it made her look up.

Steaming fresh chicken Alfredo; one of her most favorite foods.

"Oh hey, that looks pretty good…" said Azzuro, looking at her plate. His plate was complete with a large burger and neatly sliced fries; Luca was starting to wonder if maybe that was his favorite meal, but it wouldn't make sense for them to just know, right?

The two servants then poured wine for Azzuro and the Boss, before giving Luca juice and Xanxus some sort of soda and leaving the room.

"Now then, continuing where I had left off…" the Boss slowly cut his chicken into bite sized pieces. "Have you been thinking about the offer I mentioned earlier? I wanted to hear your thoughts on it, before anything else."

Luca slurped up a few noodles, doing her best to keep her manners despite the messy awkwardness of the noodles.

"Well…" replied Azzuro. He ran his finger along the top of his wine glass. Luca stared up at him, watching as his expression turn more serious than before.

He looked at the Boss. "In all honesty…I've been thinking…Well, I know you said that we could live here, even if I wasn't serving the famiglia anymore, but…It doesn't seem right to take advantage of you like that, Boss. And so…" he paused, his eyes glinting.

"I was thinking about rejoining the Varia."

Xanxus let out a bit of a snort, before taking a bite of steak. The Boss didn't seem fazed in the least; he only gave Azzuro a slight nod.

"I thought as much, I must admit. I'm certain that Tyr will gladly welcome you back." He said, before taking a bite of his meal.

The next few minutes were quiet. Luca picked at her plate, taking small bites and doing her best not to get the sauce all over. Every now and again she would glance at Xanxus, who was scowling at either his father, or at his plate.

Luca didn't know much about who or what the Varia was, except that Calder and Anton belonged to it, and Tyr was the leader. But if Azzuro was going to rejoin it, where did that leave her?

She pressed her lips together as she stared at her plate; was he going to leave her with people she didn't really know again?

Her nose tingled painfully as tears started to form in the corners of her eyes. She didn't want to cry with the Boss and Xanxus there, so she stared listlessly at the table in front of her nose, her hand squeezing Cosimo's paw tightly.

"Your Alfredo looks too good, I'm going to steal a bite," declared Azzuro suddenly, turning and stabbing a piece of chicken. He started to bite into it, grinning teasingly, only to stop and stare at Luca. "What's the matter?" he asked, frowning and leaning towards her. "Don't like it?"

She shook her head.

Azzuro turned in his chair, putting his hand on the top of her head.

"What is it then, _mi princessa?_"

"If you join the Varia…" she muttered quietly, looking up at him, "Are you going to leave again?"

He stared at her, before letting out a soft chuckle.

"Nah, I won't." He smiled.

She frowned and pulled out from under his hand, her small fingers tightening around his large ones.

"Promise," she demanded, staring up at him. "You have to promise."

He blinked in surprise, before a serious frown replaced it. He turned his hand over, catching one of Luca's and squeezing it gently.

"_Si_, _vi prometto_."

Luca grinned, relief flowing through her. Azzuro let go of her hand and gestured at her plate.

"You'd better eat your dinner… It's gonna get cold if you just let it sit there like that." he said in a much louder voice, before turning away with what Luca though looked like…embarrassment.

"Kay," she replied after a moment, turning to her meal. She rolled the noodles onto her fork, stabbed a piece of chicken and was about to take a bite when something possessed her to look up and across the table at Xanxus.

The look on his face was more than enough to make her freeze in place. His expression was dark, angrier than she had seen before, but…distant at the same time.

He pushed away from the table and onto his feet with a sudden noise.

"I'm done with my dinner," he growled out in a gruff, angry monotone, before walking away. The door shut behind him with a very audible click.

"I wonder what got into him…" muttered Azzuro looking up from his burger. Luca finally ate the bite of noodle and chicken, content to quietly finish her meal…though she did wonder why Xanxus had looked at her like that.

**

An hour later, Luca was fidgeting in her seat, her legs swinging back and forth as she stared out the window.

She knew that had she been older, her mind would have been buzzing at all the information she had caught through Azzuro and the Boss' conversation. But, being the five year old that she was, the worries that would come with knowing that she was to live at the Vongola house from then on, to be educated at an advanced pace (as all mafia children were), and to go through training of sorts…were lacking from her mind.

What was causing her to fidget so much was what befalls all children; boredom. And admittedly curiosity at where Xanxus had gotten to, and what else was in the mansion. But, dessert had yet to come, and it didn't feel like either man was going to break conversation and leave.

Luca glanced at Azzuro; he was busy explaining something to the Boss, his hands gesturing as he went. Letting out a small sigh, she looked away. The idea of tugging his sleeve to see if she could leave didn't seem like it would work; Luca remembered all too well what adults were like when they got into deep conversation—the chances of him listening to her were low.

Slowly she let Cosimo fall from her lap, her hand holding tight to his paw as she slowly started to swing him back and forwards. The men continued to talk, neither paying attention as Luca swung Cosimo higher and higher, before letting him fall a good distance away under the table. She let out a little gasp, as if surprised and slowly slid off the chair to her feet. Neither man noticed as she crawled under the table towards Cosimo. Picking him up, she glanced at her Uncle's legs as if they would tell her whether or not he had noticed. By the sounds of the conversation, he hadn't.

Luca moved to the end of the table, eyes on the door Xanxus had gone out. How she was going to go out, she didn't know. Just walking over there would be out of the question, as either the Boss or Azzuro would see her, and she didn't want to go out a different door (there were two) as she didn't know where they would lead, or who would be on the other side.

She let out a soft growl of frustration and sat down, staring at the door. How was she going to get out now?

And then the door opened.

"Sorry I'm so late!" called out a vaguely familiar voice as a pair of boots came into view.

"It fine, Tyr. Come sit down, we haven't had dessert yet."

"Ah, alright," replied Tyr, taking a seat a chair down from where Luca crouched. Her eyes narrowed when she noticed that the door wasn't fully shut; if she could get over there…she could get out.

Biting her lip, she got to her feet and peered carefully out from under the table. Tyr was busy chatting animatedly with Azzuro, his glasses catching in the fading light. As long as they continued talking, there was a chance she could get away. And so Luca slowly eased out, glad suddenly for being small.

She crept as quickly and quietly as she could across the carpet, all the while hoping not to be noticed. Her hand reached up for the door, pushed it and…was out!

Speeding up, she trotted down the hallway, intent on finding a particular main staircase. Based by the color of the sky, it would be too late to go out into the garden, and her Uncle knew exactly where that was. Somehow, she knew that the moment he noticed she was gone he would freak out.

"This looks like the right staircase, Cosimo," she muttered, coming out of a hallway to face a set of stairs. Her hand on the railing, she made her way up, ears straining to pick up any sounds that might alert her to a certain boy's presence. But, as with the rest of the house (at least, the way she had gone) there hadn't been any other people. She was glad for that, as someone might see her and drag her straight back to her Uncle. And then she'd never figure out what was wrong with—

"The hell are you doing here, brat?" called out a voice as she stood at the top of the stairs.

Luca turned around.

"Xanxus…" she replied, smiling slightly.

He scowled at her, crossing his arms and putting a foot on the stairs.

"Answer my question; you're not supposed to be here."

Luca frowned, taking a step towards him.

"Well…I was wondering where you went," she replied, "It was boring in there."

"So you came to bother me?" he snapped, stomping up the stairs. "Tch, I don't have time to entertain little brats. Go back to your _dear_ uncle and leave me the hell alone."

She stared at him as he pushed past her and towards his bedroom. Luca had almost been tempted to ask him outright why he was such a mean bastard, but thought better of it. Instead, she followed him.

Somehow, she managed to get into his room before he slammed the door shut. And somehow, he didn't throw her out, though she was ready to fight tooth and nail if he tried.

Instead, Xanxus stalked over to his desk and sat down, glowering at her the whole time.

"I thought I told you to leave me alone, brat." He grumbled. "And what the hell do you even want with me anyway?"

Luca didn't answer, turning away and walking over to where the photographs were. She studied them, seeing that the picture of Xanxus and his Mama was gone. He had probably moved it to somewhere he deemed safer and far from her clutches. Not that she would have harmed the photo…

She looked down at Cosimo, running her fingers through his mane to try and tame the tangles.

"What happened to your Mama?" She asked quietly, glancing at him. Xanxus' face was masked by anger, but she was almost certain she saw him wince a tiny bit.

"She's dead." He replied sharply. "Why?"

Luca looked back down at Cosimo.

"I miss my Mama too."

Xanxus didn't say anything, but she could feel an awkward silence descending on the room. She glanced at him to read his expression, but it was dark and oddly blank. Looking away quickly, she went back to fixing Cosimo's mane.

"But now it's just me, Uncle and Cosimo. It's not bad though…Uncle…he's really nice to me. Your Papa seems nice too."

She stole another glance at him; he was leaning forwards on his knees, glaring at her.

"Tch. Why the hell are you telling me all of this? I don't give a damn. And I didn't ask to hear about your damned life story either, so why don't you just go play somewhere else?" he growled out.

Luca felt tears in the corners of her eyes from his stinging words, but she didn't let herself cry.

"W…Why are you so mean to me?" she asked, frowning. "I haven't done anything wrong. Do you act like a bastard to everyone?"

"What did you say?" he snarled suddenly, jumping to his feet.

"I said you're a bastard, asshole!" she snapped back, holding tight to Cosimo. "I just wanted to be friends! Why do you have to be so mean?!"

He walked up to her, towering over her with a menacing stare.

"You're damned lucky I don't hit kids; now get the hell out of my room, runt."

"Hmph," she turned and stomped to the door. "I hate you, asshole."

The next moments happened almost too quickly to comprehend. Luca started to open the door, only to have it wrenched from her fingers as someone on the other side threw it open, only to be smacked in the face by a boot which Xanxus had thrown.

Luca could only stumble back as a boy struggled to stay upright, his expression furious.

"V-VOOOOOIIII! What the hell was that for?!"

Covering her ears from the earsplitting roar, Luca stared up at a white haired boy garbed in some sort of school uniform; his face was red from where the boot had hit, and his expression was almost as scary as Xanxus'.

"Squalo, what the hell are you doing here?" growled Xanxus, glaring at him. "Better yet," He turned to glare at Luca instead. "Why don't you get that trash out of here and back to her Uncle?"

"Eeeh?" Squalo (as she guessed his name to be—odd as it was) turned to stare at her. "What the hell is a kid doing here?" His gray eyes moved back to Xanxus.

"What does it matter?" replied Xanxus, "Get rid of her."

"Fine," muttered Squalo, walking towards Luca. "Let's go, brat."

As soon as he was close enough, Luca kicked his shin as hard as she could. The boy let out a gasp of pain and doubled over, trying to grab her all the while. But Luca was fast and slid past him to the door.

"Bastard Xanxus!" she called, picking up his boot and trying to throw it at him. It clattered a good three feet away from him. He gave her his scariest glare yet, but Luca, infuriated by his sharp words and rude treatment didn't care at that point. She turned to stomp out the door at that point, but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder. Letting out a squeak she tried to break free, only to be lifted up and hefted onto Squalo's shoulder.

"I'll be back," he called, before kicking the door shut and proceeding to carry Luca away.

"Let me go, asshole!" roared Luca, kicking and managing to get a fistful of his short choppy white hair.

"Voooi!" he roared, trying to free himself. "Do you want to die!? Let go!"

Luca did let go, instead twisting and slipping through his grip to land on the floor with half a mind to run away. But she didn't. Instead, she glared up at Squalo.

"Why'd you do that, jerk?!"

He stared down at her, scowling.

"Just how old are you, runt? And why the hell were you messing with him anyway? Are you trying to die?"

"I'm five," she replied, ignoring his other questions. "Who are you?"

"Five? You've got to be kidding me," he muttered, rubbing at the mark on his face. "And that bastard's gone and made me into a fucking nanny, what the hell…"

Luca let out a slight snort, before turning and stomping down the hallway, intent on leaving behind Squalo if he was going to look down on her and just mutter to himself.

"Voooi!" he yelled, catching up to her and cutting in front of her. "Where the hell do you think you're going?"

She glared at him and didn't answer.

"Tch, I'm supposed to bring you back to your Uncle or whatever…so come on." He reached out and grabbed her arm roughly. Luca complied, frowning all the while.

"Why's your name Squalo?" she asked after a moment. "You're named after a fish."

"Tch, and? What the hell is your name, runt?"

"Luca," she snapped back, "Luca Canzone."

"Your last name sounds like a calzone," he countered, "So don't go around making fun of other people."

"Jerk," she replied, thinking of kicking him. But…somehow, Squalo was a little interesting to her.

"Why were you bothering Xanxus?" he asked, staring down at her. "You were about to be fried, kid."

Luca didn't answer, glowering at the carpet as they walked. Squalo made an irritated sound, before stopping in the middle of a room. There were four different hallways connected to it.

"So which way's your Uncle?" asked Squalo, frowning.

"He was in…the big dining room with the stained glass," admitted Luca. Squalo turned left and drug her down the hallway, frowning.

The walked for a good few minutes, before Luca decided to ask him more questions.

"Are you Xanxus' friend?" she asked in a much calmer voice. Squalo glanced at her.

"Friend? Pah, I don't know…"

It didn't seem like someone like Xanxus had friends. But that didn't seem right to Luca; everyone had friends, didn't they?

"I just wanted to be friends with him…" she muttered, letting Cosimo dangle limply in her hand. Squalo remained silent, but she could feel his eyes on her.

They went through two more rooms before she struck up the next question.

"Do you live here?"

"Nope," he replied, "I'm just visiting from a branch famiglia. You?"

"Nn…I guess we live here. My Uncle's gonna be in the Varia, so…"

"The Varia, eh?" asked Squalo, an eyebrow raised. "Well in any case, if you're gonna live here, you'd better stay away from Xanxus from now on, kid."

Luca didn't answer, staring at the carpet before looking up when she realized they had approached a door. Squalo tilted his head at it, as if listening, before kicking it open to reveal the dining room; it was empty.

"I thought you said he was in here!" he snapped, glaring down at Luca.

"He was! Him and the Boss and that Tyr guy too!"

"Vooi! Then where the hell did he go?!" he roared, looking around.

"Stop yelling!" she cried, pulling away. "I don't know—"

"Luca!" called out a voice. Both she and Squalo turned around to see none other than Azzuro himself standing at the end of the hallway. He cleared the distance between them within seconds, looking furious.

"Oi, brat, don't yell at my niece like that!" he snapped, standing defensively between Luca and Squalo.

"Vooi! I'll yell at whoever the hell I want!"

Azzuro started to snap something back, but Luca grabbed his wrist.

"Stop it, Uncle!"

He glanced back at her.

"He didn't do anything wrong…" she muttered, glancing at Squalo who was glaring daggers at Azzuro. "He was helping me find you…"

"Is that so?" growled Azzuro, eyeing Squalo. "Well then you have my thanks, kid."

"Tch, whatever," replied Squalo, still on edge. He then pushed past them and up the hallway, glancing back at Luca once before disappearing around a corner.

Luca stared after the way he had gone; was he going back to Xanxus' room? Her thoughts were cut short when she felt Azzuro staring at her. She looked up at him to see he was looking very displeased.

"Uncle…"

"Why did you run off like that?" he asked, crouching down to face her more comfortably. She looked at her toes, unable to look him in the eyes. "Look at me, Luca."

Obediently she turned, afraid of his expression which she believed to be angry. But it wasn't; instead he looked worried. A pang of guilt hit her stomach as she shifted from foot to foot.

"I wanted to look around… I was bored…" she murmured quietly. He frowned slightly.

"If you asked me, I would have had someone take you sightseeing around here! You can't just run off like that, I was really worried!"

Luca stared at her feet, guilt welling up through her chest. Azzuro hadn't yelled at her before; she wasn't sure what to do.

"Anyway," he said, standing up. "It's getting late; let's head back to our room, alright?"

"Uh-huh," she replied, following as he led her up the hallway.

The whole way to the room was quiet; Luca didn't have anything really to say, and she was afraid that Azzuro was still mad at her. He didn't say anything either; only led her to the room with a grim kind of expression.

* * *

"Hah, look someone fixed up our room!" said Azzuro as he stood in the door, grinning at Luca. She peered from behind him, unsure of what he meant until she saw it herself.

Her blue-green eyes widened with surprise; at first, she thought that this was a different room, but after a moment, she realized it wasn't.

The single bed that had been in the center of the room had moved to the window, while a smaller bed was across from it against the wall that separated the bathroom from the rest of the room. The bedspread had clouds on it, and looked…_kid-friendly_, or so Luca thought.

"Pretty nice, huh?" asked Azzuro, shutting the door behind them and sitting on his bed. "Tyr mentioned something about having it fixed up for us…didn't think it would be so soon though. And look! We've got a TV and a mini fridge…"

He got to his feet and went over to the fridge while Luca went and sat on her new bed. She watched as he opened the fridge and rummaged through it, humming to himself.

"Ah, nice one Tyr!" he suddenly laughed, pulling out a brown bottle. After a moment of confusion, Luca realized that the label on it was in English. She couldn't read it, but she had a strong feeling that it was alcohol.

Azzuro tossed himself back on the bed, putting the drink on the nightstand and holding up a remote which he pointed at the TV.

"Let's see what's on, shall we? Maybe there's some cartoons or something for ya?"

When Luca didn't answer, he looked at her more sharply.

"What's the matter?"

"Are you still…mad?" asked Luca quietly as she swung her legs back and forth.

Azzuro made a noise of surprise, before sitting upright. He frowned and patted the bed.

"Come here, Luca," he said, his voice lacking the humor it had a moment ago. She got to her feet and climbed onto his bed, pressing her lips together the whole time. "I'm not mad anymore," he said, before putting his hand on her head and straightening her hair. "But Luca, you need to tell me before running off like that… I was really worried about you."

"I'm sorry, Uncle…" she replied, looking up at him. He gave her a lopsided grin, before gesturing at the TV.

"Now then, wanna see if we can't find some cartoons or something?"

* * *

Half an hour later, Luca clung to her uncle sound asleep, her head on his stomach. Every now and again he'd glance at her, before finally turning off the TV and sitting more upright. Luca didn't stir.

Smiling slightly, he picked her up and placed her in her bed, before patting her head lightly and going to the door.

"I'll be back soon," he muttered softly, before grabbing his coat and heading out.

* * *

**Hm...one thing I just wanted to address...I'm never one to complain on reviews or the like...But I see an awful lot of faves and alerts, but only a few people brave enough to review...come one, I like to hear what you guys think!**

**But my thanks does go out to you voiceless people who do fave and alert :D**

**-okami  
**


	8. The Bird and the Cruel Prince

**Ah, hello there!**

**I'm sorry I took so long to post the newest chapter! More or less life got in the way, followed by a heck of a punch of writers block. But I'm finally free of that, so updates will happen more frequently now! Yay~**

**Thank you all for being patient. I don't really have much else to say, so read on! :D  
**

* * *

*Chapter 8*

The next week went by at a fast pace, starting with Azzuro stumbling through the door and scaring Luca half to death with the splattered, half dried blood on his shirt. He assured her that he was fine, before collapsing on the bed and drinking straight from a bottle of smelly booze. Luca really didn't think that was the case; she ran to the bathroom, grabbed a box of bandages, and attempted to doctor up the few scratches he had—realizing at the same time that most of the blood staining his shirt didn't belong to him.

When she tried to question him on what he had been doing, he answered with a gruff "work" and refused to go any further than that.

The rest of that particular day seemed devoted to Azzuro resting, drinking and telling Luca about how she was going to have an in-home tutor come Wednesday. Supposedly, she was behind other mafia children, and because she was now living in the Vongola household, would be getting tutorage that rivaled that of kids nearly twice her age. She knew immediately that it was not something to look forward to, but knew better than to voice the thought to her Uncle. Instead she flipped through the channels on the TV and doodled on a notebook Azzuro tossed to her when she asked for something to draw on.

The next day, Luca convinced him to let her wander around outside the room after an hour's worth of persuasion. After agreeing multiple times to stay out of trouble, and especially avoiding a certain Boss' son, he finally let her go. Luca was out of the room before he had even gotten dressed for his newest 'job'.

As she made her way to the garden—which she had been wanting to visit again—she had come across strangers, but they seemed content to ignore her. None of them had kids with them, nor did they even give her a glance, so she paid them no mind and kept on her way.

An hour later, she was sitting under a tree, humming to herself. She discovered that half the garden was full of flowers she could name on sight; while the other half were unknown and exotic. Luca hoped that she would be able to convince her Uncle to either borrow a book from the library—which she knew had to exist in such a big house—or buy a book on flowers so she could learn to name them herself.

It seemed that the day was going to be spent alone, as Azzuro had gone off to work and Luca had promised not to bother Xanxus. He was the only interesting person she could visit within the house; she wished she could visit Squalo, but he himself had said he didn't live there, meaning he probably wasn't around.

Deciding a few minutes later that sitting around the garden had lost its fun, Luca got to her feet, planning to wander around the compound in search of something else to do. She had really only seen a little bit of the house in any case, so exploring it seemed much too tempting.

As before, the activity in the house seemed rather…lacking. There weren't many house servants running about, and even the group of strangers had disappeared. But, at the same time, maybe it was for the best, as any adult seeing a five-year old wandering about might try to drag her off to the nearest babysitter.

**

Luca visited room after room, hallway after hallway, never finding anything all that interesting, other than tons of furniture and few signs of people. For such a big place, it really seemed empty.

That was…until she heard an odd sound that she could only place as soft laughter. Following it, she made her way to a door that was partly open; pushing it the rest of the way, she found herself in a circular room. It was stock full of furniture covered with white sheets, which she immediately placed as some sort of storage room.

Why she had heard laughter come from it, she couldn't know. But stepping back nervously, she wondered if it was a ghost. All big houses were haunted, weren't they? Luca decided that it was in her best interest to leave the ghost alone, and turned to leave. A storage room wouldn't be interesting anyway, she told herself.

"Ushishishi~ Who are you?" called out a voice. Luca froze on the spot, eyes widening. Her head slowly turned to see a small person hunched over in a corner with what looked like a stick in hand. He had his back to her, but his blonde hair and burgundy-and-black striped shirt were quite distinct.

"Luca," she replied slowly, unsure of who or what the person was. "Are you a ghost?" She asked, tilting her head slightly.

"Ushishishi~ no," he replied, turning around to face her. His long blonde hair obscured all but a wide grinning mouth; when combined with his striped shirt, she was immediately reminded of the Cheshire cat. "I'm a _prince._" He corrected, and it was then that Luca noticed the small shiny tiara resting within the messy curtain of blonde.

She didn't have anything to say in response to his claim, other than disbelief. Her eyes moved from the stick in his hands to the corner. She hadn't seen it before as he blocked the view, but now she could see why he had been crouched over; huddled as far back as it could manage was a bird.

It was brown, with a few splotches of fluffy white—meaning it was still relatively young—Luca didn't know what kind it was, but all that mattered to her was its left wing which was being dragged across the floor. It was hurt.

"What are you doing to this bird?" asked Luca, turned to stare at the boy. He grinned and crouched down, jabbing at the bird with the stick. It let out an alarmed cry and hobbled as far away as it could manage. Horrified, Luca took a step forwards. "Stop that!"

The boy glanced at her with a bemused smirk. "Why? It's probably going to die anyway."

"It's not nice!" she snapped, moving to stand between him and the bird. "Leave it alone!"

The smirk disappeared to be replaced by a frown; the boy stood up, a head taller than her.

"And who says I'm going to listen to you, peasant? Ushishishi~ Maybe I should play with you instead !" He shoved her backwards, grinning maniacally. When she didn't respond, he crouched back down and jabbed at the bird again. Angry, Luca suddenly shoved him back, catching him by surprise and sending him to the floor. She turned and tried to coax the bird towards her, but it only hobbled further away. Frowning, Luca reached out to scoop it into her hands, but something whizzed past her ear at the same second, causing her to look up.

Something silver was imbedded in the wall; confused, she started to reach out and touch it, before realizing just what it was. A small scalpel-like knife.

"Stupid girl," said the boy in even tones. "You shouldn't get in _my_ way."

Gritting her teeth, she scooped up the bird and held it tightly in her hands, tears in the corners of her eyes. She wasn't sure how she was going to deal with the boy behind her; he had real knives, and obviously was willing to use them. But her Uncle wasn't around to save her; she was going to have to figure a way out of it herself.

Luca slowly turned around, her heart pounding in her chest. The boy was grinning evilly, more knives in his hands.

"Give me the bird, ushishishi~" he laughed, taking a step forward. Luca shook her head and winced when she found her back touching the wall. "You can't get away, so give me it!"

"No!" she cried suddenly, lunging forwards and knocking her shoulder against his. The sudden movement surprised him long enough that she was able to push past and break into a run, the bird clutched carefully in her hands. Not a moment after passing the doorway did she hear the pat-pat-pat of something hitting the wood followed by rapid footsteps; she knew that he had thrown the knives and missed, but was chasing her.

Luca ran as fast as she could up the hallway, Cosimo just barely managing to stay clutched under her arm. Just as she started to turn a corner she heard a whizzing sound which was then followed by the shattering sound of a decorative vase a few feet in front of her. Screaming, she twisted and missed the falling shards, legs pumping as she sprinted across the marble.

She was a good runner, but the boy was faster. The distance between them was closing quickly; before long, she would be at his mercy.

Another corner loomed ahead; she glanced back to see the boy suddenly pulling back. Thinking she had won, she turned her gaze ahead triumphantly and ran headfirst into a black mass that had suddenly appeared in front of her. With a cry, she bounced off of it and onto the floor, the bird nearly flying out of her hands.

"Are you alright?" asked a startled voice. Luca looked up to see a man crouching in front of her with a concerned expression. She slowly nodded, before climbing to her feet and looking behind her. The scary prince boy was gone.

"What's that you've got there?" asked the man. Luca turned to face him, realizing that he wasn't quite a man, but a boy a little bit older than Squalo. His wild hair, dark suit, serious expression and dark circles under his eyes made him seem like an adult at first glance, but his voice said otherwise.

"It's hurt," replied Luca, holding out the bird. It gave a feeble peep, but didn't struggle in her small fingers. The boy carefully pulled away her fingers and examined it.

"Looks like its wing is broken," he commented, before locking eyes with Luca. "Are you going to take care of it?"

She nodded in agreement, before staring when he reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief which he quickly ripped into four strips. Confused she watched as he then tied the strips together and wrapped them around the bird to secure its wing to its body.

"There. Leave that on for a while, and he should be fine," said the boy. Luca nodded silently and cradled the bird in her arms, using Cosimo as a pillow for it to stand on.

"Thank you…" she said, smiling up at the boy. He smiled slightly and stood up; he was so tall that she only reached his hip.

"Well, I should go. I got separated from my famiglia…they should be around here somewhere…" the confused way he looked around made it obvious that he didn't know where he was.

"Are you lost?" asked Luca, "I can help you, if you are." She wasn't certain, but she figured the group of people she had seen earlier that day was probably the 'famiglia' he was referring to. Also, she was starting to learn the layout of the house, so as his guide, she was bound to find them somehow…or so she thought.

"Yeah…I am," he admitted awkwardly. Luca smiled wider and grabbed his sleeve.

"Follow me!" she chirped, happily.

***

His name was Lanchia, she found out a little later, as she led him through the Vongola house. He was part of an 'ally famiglia' that was visiting the Nono and had gotten separated from them when he ran into a school friend. Luca asked if the school friend happened to be Squalo, but apparently it wasn't. Her disappointment only lasted a few seconds, before she bombarded him with more questions when she realized that he was more willing to answer her questions than Squalo.

He was 17, didn't like sweets, and from northern Italia. No, he usually didn't get lost, but large mansions like the Vongola house were confusing. No, He didn't know what kind of bird it was. Yes, he liked Alfredo too.

Twenty minutes later, Luca had run out of questions and instead started telling him about herself, and about the others she knew, such as how Xanxus was mean to her and she didn't know why and how Squalo had been named after a fish. She talked more about Xanxus than either her Uncle or Squalo; his behavior was confusing, and she didn't know why he didn't want to be her friend.

"Some people are just like that," said Lanchia, carefully matching his long strides to her short ones. "But if you really want to be friends with him…maybe try a different approach?"

Luca stared at him. "What do you mean?"

"Well, don't let him provoke you. Try to be calm and understanding; if he still gets angry, apologize that he's feeling that way, and probably leave him alone. He sounds like a pretty violent guy."

Luca nodded, but didn't speak, her mind trying to digest what he had told her. She knew immediately that being calm with Xanxus would be rather…difficult.

***

Half an hour later, Luca managed to lead Lanchia right to his famiglia who were chatting with the Ninth out front of the mansion. As they got closer, she clung a little tighter to Lanchia, feeling wary of the large group of strangers.

"It looks like we're leaving," commented Lanchia, stopping a distance away from his famiglia. Luca let go of his sleeve and petted the bird, before looking up at him.

"If you get lost again, I'll come and help you!" she smiled, feeling a little sad that her newest friend had leave so quickly.

Lanchia awkwardly nodded, before turning and walking towards the group of people. Luca waved to him, before turning and walking back into the house, the bird held securely in her arms.

***

It wasn't until after the sun went down that Azzuro came home.

Luca was lying on her bed, attempting to feed the newly named Nero bread crust. The small bird would chirp a warning, hop towards her, and then shy away, all the while staring at her suspiciously. She cursed the evil prince boy and laid down on her stomach, wondering how she would get Nero to warm up to her.

At that moment, the door swung open and Azzuro staggered in. This time, he wasn't blood splattered, but seemed rather upbeat, humming off key as he tossed his coat onto the bed.

"Sorry I was out so long," he said to Luca, sitting on the edge of his bed and kicking off his boots. "Did you have fun today?"

She nodded and sat up. "I rescued this poor bird from a mean boy today. Can I keep him?"

Azzuro looked up, suddenly noticing the bird huddled on the end of her bed. He got to his feet and stared down at it.

"What happened to its wing?" he asked, crossing his arms.

Luca then recited most of what had happened earlier—leaving out the knife throwing as not to send him into another protective rage; Azzuro nodded and seemed amused with her befriending Lanchia, before he became serious.

"Now, I know you want to keep this bird, but…" he leaned forward on his knees to stare fixedly at her. "Are you going to take care of it? Feed it? Clean up after it?"

Luca nodded enthusiastically. "Yep! I promise!"

Azzuro sat back, scratching the side of his face. "Well, alright…I guess you can keep it. But we're going to have to get a cage for it; because it sure isn't gonna fly all over the place. For now, you can keep it in that cardboard box over there…I'll find something better for it in the—" he yawned loudly, "morning."

Smiling as she got to her feet, Luca scooped up Nero and placed him in the box, putting a towel on the bottom so he had something to sleep on.

"Alright mi princessa, now go to bed; you have a long day tomorrow."

Luca crawled under her blankets, eyes on the ceiling as she thought of the next day and her home tutor that she would have to meet.

* * *

**So who is her home tutor? Will Nero warm up to her? Just what is Azzuro doing?**

**pftt. I feel like one of the announcers at the end of a show. Anyway, stay tuned (again, announcer-sounding) and we shall see!  
**


	9. The Tutor

_A/N:_

_Hello everyone! It's been well over a year since I updated, and I am so sorry for that! I'm not quite sure how to explain myself. I've been going through tough times during and before writing this fiction, and that has a lot to do with my update lag…as well as dreaded…DREADED writers block. Did I mention dreaded?_

_Anyway, I'd do a recap, but that would be long, and I'm sure if you need a recap, you can just skim the previous chapters (that's what I'd do anyway)/_

_Well, I will warn you that I don't know how fast the next chapters will come out, but I am trying my best! And THANK you all for waiting patiently (in some cases, heheh) for me. And a really big THANKS goes out to Grenouille-san, who supported and advised me to keep going with this (Yes, you DID do that.) :D I shall be quiet now._

* * *

Chapter 9:

The next day felt unnecessarily rushed.

Luca had woken early in the morning, creeping up to Nero's cage and attempting to coax him out, all the while wary of waking up her Uncle. Glancing at him, she couldn't help but wonder how he of all people could sleep like that, with his head and shoulders hanging off the side, arms dangling and all the while snoring like a monster. He didn't even have blankets anymore, having somehow managed to kick them off the bed in his blankets strewn in a tangled pile on the floor. He wouldn't be waking up for a few hours or so and any earlier than that would prove to be dangerous, as Luca knew all too well after having the misfortune of waking him up a few weeks prior. The result of which had him snarling the rest of the day.

Why adults slept so late into the morning was beyond her. She could only sleep an hour or so after the sun rose; Azzuro on the other hand, could sleep until the sunlight was pouring through the window.

Except, on that particular day.

Luca had finally won over Nero and was quietly chirping to him in her hands as he pecked softly at a bread crust she had procured from last night's dinner when suddenly, seemingly for no reason Azzuro woke up with a gasp and sat bolt upright.

"_Merda!_ We're late!"

His sudden outburst caused Nero to hop right back into the box, much to Luca's disappointment. But that was quickly replaced with mild amusement as Azzuro hopped around trying to put on his pants (as he had slept in his shorts)…until his blue eyes locked on her.

"Eh? What're you staring at me for? Get dressed, we're running late!" he gasped, waving his arms and tripping over his boots at the same time, causing him to face plant into the mattress.

Luca retreated into the bathroom, giggling. When she came out, he was leaning against the door frame and tapping his foot with impatience. She only had enough time to grab Cosimo before Azzuro was dragging her away, the lines between his eyebrows more visible than usual.

It was only then as he crouched down and she obediently climbed onto his shoulders that she remembered that it was Wednesday, and that she was to meet her tutor.

"Is it going to be Mrs. Miller?" asked Luca as they rounded a corner, her arms holding tight to Azzuro's shoulders.

"No," he replied, "She still recovering. I heard she's going to retire, the old bat's not as strong as she used to be. She'll visit you when she's better, I bet." He jogged down the staircase, stopping as he tried to move past a crowd of people at the bottom. "Damn, looks like the Giuseppi famiglia is already here… Hold on tight, _princessa._"

Luca gasped with delight as Azzuro jumped over the railing to bypass the traffic jam of people, landing lightly on his feet. He grinned slightly as he glanced at Luca's face, before striding across the room with the same hurried pace.

"If it isn't Mrs. Miller, who is it?" asked Luca, shifting positions and using the top of his head as a brace.

"Sit still," he replied, opening a door to the outside. "I don't know; someone good."

Luca looked around curiously as her Uncle kept his fast pace until they were on the opposite side of the building where a white gate sat open. Inside lay a grassy field fenced in by a tall hedge; it was empty.

"You're late," commented a strong female voice from behind, as Azzuro walked inside.

"Sorry," he replied, turning around and helping Luca off his shoulders. She stared at the speaker with wide eyes, her arms wrapping around his leg under such a daunting stare.

"Is she my tutor?" asked Luca in a quiet voice, her face partially hidden by Cosimo. The woman before her was intimidating; her eyes were sharp and unfriendly, her stance stiff.

"No," she replied, "I'm more like a supervisor for him." Her eyes flashed to Azzuro. "I take it you're the Uncle?"

"Ah, yeah. Azzuro Vendatte at your service," he replied, rubbing the back of his neck and extending his other hand in greeting. "What do you mean you're a supervisor? You look like a good candidate."

Said niece glanced up at her Uncle, wondering what the underlying tone to his voice meant. He looked her up and down; there was a glint in his eye that Luca didn't recognize.

The lady was more than unfazed; she frowned a little more distinctly before glancing at his still outstretched hand. She didn't shake it.

"I am Lal Mirch," she replied. "To be more specific on what I mean by 'supervisor', my student is to be your niece's tutor. I'm here to make sure things go as planned, as appointed by Vongola Nono."

"I see," replied Azzuro, awkwardly withdrawing his hand. "So uh, where is this student of yours?"

"Present!" called a voice from beyond the gate, causing all heads to turn. A blonde man with a camo print bandana and matching green military jacket grinned and waved, a large water bottle clasped in one hand and a thick binder in the other.

Luca tilted her head up as the man walked up to her and Azzuro; glancing at his binder and then crouching down.

"Hm, you're kind of small to be my student," he said, smirking. Luca frowned; he seemed nice, but with the strict looking lady around, she didn't feel like moving away from her uncle. Lal took his binder and whacked the back of his head with it.

"You're late, Colonello."

"Ah, sorry, sorry," he laughed, grinning broadly as he stood upright and rubbed where Lal had hit him. Said supervisor only frowned a little more, before handing him the binder and crossing her arms over her chest.

"So you're going to be her tutor?" cut in Azzuro, sounding a little less friendly. One eyebrow was raised slightly. "You don't seem all that qualified."

Colonello let out a chuckle, turning to face him.

"It might seem that way, but I assure you, I know what I'm doing. I take it you're the dad?" He stuck out his hand in polite greeting. It was Azzuro's turn not to take it, as his eyebrow twitched the slightest bit.

"Uncle, actually," he said. "Azzuro Vendatte." He placed a hand on Luca's head, "This is L-"

"Luca Alessia Canzone," answered Colonello, glancing and his binder and then at her. "I already know. Well, shall we begin?"

Colonello ate lunch with them on one of the many porches that surrounded the guest side of the Vongola house, all the while going over the basics of what he would be teaching and asking a few brisk questions; all were directed at Azzuro; Colonello didn't say much to Luca, though she figured he didn't really have anything to ask her just yet. But since she wasn't currently included, she took the time to observe her supposed new tutor.

Already, she kind of liked him. He didn't seem as strict as Lal, and much more relaxed than Mrs. Miller. He seemed to like to talk a lot, and kept using "hey" in almost every sentence. She couldn't follow what he and Azzuro were talking about for long, but she did catch mention that she would be learning to fight. Immediately an image of Xanxus fighting in the training room popped into her head; was she going to fight like that?

Colonello kept emphasizing on the fact that Luca had a lot of catching up to do, if she was to be equal and possibly even above the other children her age, depending on her learning abilities. In any case, it sounded like a lot of work.

Azzuro was compliant with what Colonello said, nodding more often than not and asking a few questions of his own. When they moved on to a pile of paperwork, and Luca had finished her sandwich and fruit juice, she found that she was extremely bored.

She thought of slipping away like she had done before, but didn't really want to end up in trouble with her uncle again. Kicking her heels back and forth, she leaned forwards and rested her arms on the table to wait for a chance to interrupt the two men, though it didn't feel as if she would get a chance.

Sighing with frustration, she looked around the porch area trying to find something to do, if she couldn't leave. The only thing of interest was the far end of the porch which overlooked a grassy area and a stone wall; she hadn't really noticed it too much before…hmmm.

Slowly, hesitantly she slid to her feet, eyes on Azzuro. It didn't seem like he was going to notice, as his blue eyes flashed over yet another form or agreement in finely printed Italian—Colonello meanwhile was sorting through his binder, spinning his half empty water-bottle on the table with his free hand. Luca took a few steps away from the table, took a few more, and was about to go straight to the end of the porch when she was stopped by the sensation of eyes on her.

"Luca, just where do you think you're going?" asked Azzuro, staring at her. "Didn't I tell you not to run off?"

An apologetic grin flashed across her face, before she frowned a little and pointed at the far end of the porch.

"I just wanted to go over there," she said, fiddling with Cosimo. "I'm bored."

"Can't blame you," said Colonello, looking up from his binder. Azzuro let out a sigh.

"Alright, you can go over there, just stay where I can see you." Luca grinned, before running to the far end of the porch and peering out at the grassy area. She was too short to properly lean over the railing, so instead she held onto it and partially hung from it, Cosimo's paw between her teeth. Luca pretended that she was rescuing him from a prison and that the grass below her was the ocean, far, far below, like in the movie she had seen part of.

As she played, she was completely unaware of both her uncle and Colonello watching her closely.

"I wasn't properly briefed on the _flame_ issue…do you think you could fill me in? I'd like to know what happened." Colonello finally turned his gaze back to the man across from him. Azzuro stared after his niece, nodding. His explanation of what he had seen took little more than a minute, though he did not mention anything about his great-grandmother or his and Luca's lineage.

"Hmm." Colonello stared at the little girl as she swung between the beams of the porch railing, trailing her stuffed toy on the grass. He didn't say anything more, though, he was thinking a great deal; _this girl…_he thought, _might be very promising…_

* * *

_A/N:_

_Okay, so, Colonello…is not an arcoballeno yet. I'm not sure as to when he and the others actually because arcoballeno (It might be that I'm just forgetting) but to make things work…let's just go with it. He will be an arcoballeno soon enough…so I'm not bending the cannon storyline too much…(I hope.)_

_-Okami _


	10. Training

_Hello again. __It's been forever, hasn't it?_ I'm sorry for long breaks between chapters, but today you're in for a treat. I'm posting two at once...  


_I hope you enjoy~_

* * *

Chapter 10

* * *

"Graaah!" screamed Luca, running as fast as her short, five year old legs could manage. Within an instant, she was knocked off her feet and sent sprawling across the grass. She was tempted to cry again for the tenth time that afternoon, but her tutor forbid her from it, claiming that she needed to keep a cool head, regardless of how mad or hurt she got. It didn't seem fair—she was only a kid!

"Hey! Again!" came Colonnello's cry. Luca staggered to her feet, wincing slightly at her skinned and grass stained knees. Today was going to be a lot like yesterday and a lot like the days before that too.

Luca had never kept track of the days of week nearly as much as she did now. Other than focusing on when Saturday came, she didn't really pay attention before. But now, she was frustratingly aware that it was currently Friday, which meant a day of harsh physical training. The day before had been language and history. The day before that had been science, literature and art, and the day before that was also physical training. Mondays were always math and economics. It was too much. The last week and a half had been too much.

Over six times during that period of time she erupted into tantrums; they were full of screaming, stomping, throwing things, calling her tutor more names than she had ever called anyone, and finally trying to give up and stubbornly refuse to do anything. All that it amounted was for Colonello to stare her down, unimpressed, before sharply commanding her to get up (if she was sitting on the ground—or lying out of exhaustion) and continue their routine. He worked harder than Mrs. Miller or any other teacher ever had, and Luca felt like she was about to either shut down for good, or just simply break like an overly used toy.

At the end of the day, she would become so tired that after Colonnello had finished with her, she would have to be carried to her and Azzuro's room—of course, completely knocked out at that point—and sleep until her Uncle finally staggered in, exhausted by his own day of work. However, despite how tired he happened to be, Azzuro found enough energy to go into long angry rants over her treatment.

"This is no way to treat a little girl!" he would snarl over dinner, gesturing wildly with whatever he happened to be holding in his hand at the time. He would threaten to first chew out that '_bastardo' _and then tutor him. At first Luca was genuinely worried about what kind of violence he would cause, but after a week of his rants, she saw there was no effect on her training whatsoever. Not long after that, she overheard him arguing over the phone with a woman—Lal whatever her name was—she presumed, but couldn't be sure. Azzuro would snarl that Luca was going to end up in the hospital and that she was only a little kid for goddamned sake and shouldn't have so much pressure on her, but after a few minutes of silence in which the person was most likely replying, Azzuro's tone would lower and he would sigh and grumble and seem to give up. More than once he caught Luca trying to listen in; he didn't scold her, but would pat the top of her head and tell her not to worry. She didn't know what to say to that.

The training or 'tutoring' continued at a steady, difficult pace. Luca was beginning to feel that Colonnello was aiming to break her. Though she seemed to do well enough with regular studies, when it came to physical training it didn't feel like it was accomplishing anything other than succeeding in knocking her out by sunset with a good amount of bruises, scrapes and dirty, torn clothes to go along with it.

At least he gave her weekends. Luca was free to wander around the Vongola house during the afternoons, doing whatever she wanted…for the most part. At first, she tried seeking out playmates, be it kids her own age or even Xanxus, but she never seemed to find anything other than adults in the household. And they had no time for her. Countless times she was chased away from the business rooms and parlors, from the gatherings and discussions, and countless times the household servants would scold her and send her to a less occupied area of the house. It all was disappointing.

So most weekend afternoons were spent alone with Cosimo, either in the garden, the empty hallways, or in the bedroom. It was lonely, but never for too long—Azzuro tended to show up in the evenings, more often than not tired, but happy to see her.

Another week punched its way past, and at the end of it, a drizzly Sunday morning, Luca was awakened with a surprise. She had woken up at nine, feeling full of energy despite the soreness that still lingered from Friday's training. Kicking off the pile of blankets, she noticed that there was something different about the room. For one, Azzuro wasn't there, though that wasn't too concerning—he could have been on a cigarette break, as he would smoke almost immediately after getting up—but after a moment, she noticed that Nero was gone. Luca jumped to her feet quickly, looking around the counter for Nero's box, but that was gone too. Almost as if in answer, she heard a twittering, and turning her head, saw that by the window there was a large metal birdcage and stand in front of it. Nero was on the bottom of the cage, peering out at her from a pile of shredded newspaper and what looked to be remains of a slice of bread. Luca smiled.

After spending a few minutes cooing at Nero and examining his new cage with wonder, Luca realized she was starving and so changed into 'outside' clothes and decided to seek out Azzuro so they could go and have breakfast, or find the kitchen and ask the nice cook (it wouldn't be the first time Luca went straight to the kitchen for food when her uncle wasn't around) for something to eat.

Twenty minutes later Luca was pushing open the kitchen door to find a second surprise. The kitchen, which was gigantic, well stocked and usually sparkling clean, was anything but. There were egg shells all over the granite island, and milk was dripping down the front of the sink from an over turned carton. It looked as if something composed of batter had exploded on the nearby wall, the floor, and the…ceiling? Hearing a voice, Luca turned her head to find the chef in a far corner; he was covered in a fine layer of white powder and the stereotypical cook's hat was askew on the top of his head, half burned. Cursing through tears, he was shaking with rage and pointing at the apparent source of the disaster; a man.

Luca couldn't see who the man was, as he was bent over staring through the glass of a large oven. But what she could see was that he was trying to make something, and he was covered in more fine powder and batter than even the cook. She was about to turn around and leave, deciding that there probably wasn't much of a _safe _chance for breakfast anymore when the man stood up.

Azzuro.

Rather than looking surprised to see her, he looked a little horrified, and then a thoroughly embarrassed.

"_Princessa_, you weren't supposed to be in here!" he exclaimed. He walked up to her, hair half out of the ponytail and plastered to the side of his face by batter. The rest of his face was white with flour—as was most of his clothing. Immediately Luca began to snicker, and then at his exasperated expression burst into louder laughter. Before she knew it, he was ushering her out of the kitchen with a sort of scowl on his face.

"I'm hungry-!" she started to argue, struggling against him as he pushed her out of the kitchen. "What's going on in there?" He let her go, looked around and grabbed an apple out of a bowl of fruit on a nearby hallway table.

"Don't worry about it," he said, wiping at the side of his unbattered face. He handed her the apple, "Make do with this, okay?"

"But-!" she started, only to stop when a loud shriek came from the kitchen behind him. Azzuro opened the door, causing smoke to roll out. Luca tried to look past him, but he stepped back blocking her view.

"Go play!" he said distractedly, glancing into the kitchen again. "I'll come and get you a little later. Behave alright?"

Before Luca could even answer him, the kitchen door swung shut. Bewildered, she stared at it for a few moments, before looking at the apple he had handed to her. She took a bite of it only to spit it out with disappointment and disgust—it was wax.

She put it back in the bowl, not caring to face the bitten side out of view and frowned. Luca had no idea what was going on with her uncle. This was new to her. Him in the kitchen? Doing…_something_? It was weird.

Luca was still hungry, but there wasn't much she could do about it. All that she could do was go play, as her uncle suggested; so she did.

Luca climbed the staircase slowly, eyes on the landing. She remembered Xanxus standing up there one of the last times she had seen him. She hadn't seen him for weeks, though he had to have been around, being the Ninth's son and all. And what of Squalo? She had liked the hot-tempered fish-named boy—he would have made a fun playmate, older or not. When Luca reached the top of the stairs, she stared down one of the hallways, wondering if she could brave trying to visit Xanxus again. The last few times she tried to visit his room, regardless of whether or not he was there, the door had been locked.

She made her way down the hall, swinging her arms and wishing she had thought to bring Cosimo along. She remembered having dropped the stuffed lion on the bedroom floor when she thought that Nero was gone. She didn't feel like going to get him—at least not yet.

Suddenly Luca stopped walking; she stared down the hallway and saw that not only was Xanxus' room open, but there was someone emerging. Excitedly she broke into a trot and stopped at the door, confused. It wasn't Xanxus walking out of the room, but one of the many serving staff—this one in particular wearing an apron and pushing an empty food cart. The servant, a flighty looking man with receding hair and bandaged wrist smiled kindly at Luca and quietly tried to convince her to leave. When Luca asked why, he replied that the Boss' son was sick and that she probably shouldn't go near lest she get sick. And Xanxus was in a foul mood; wouldn't she rather go play in the garden?

No, she wouldn't. But she felt guilty and so followed the servant past the stairs, to the service elevator that she had failed to notice before. She pretended to begin descending the stairs while waving at the servant; as soon as the doors on the elevator closed, she spun around and ran back to Xanxus' room, where she slowly grasped the door handle and opened it a crack. Peeking in, she didn't see very much, so she opened the door wider. Xanxus really was there, sitting up in his bed, glaring down at a tray of food on his lap. He was wearing white and blue striped pajamas and looked very displeased.

The door behind her closed with a soft snap, but it was enough to make Xanxus look up sharply. He stared at her the same way he had stared at the tray of food, wishing it would go away.

"What the hell do you want?" he demanded in a hoarse voice. Immediately he started coughing, looking less and less fierce. The servant hadn't been wrong in saying Xanxus was sick; the boy was most definitely so. Xanxus' hair was messier than usual, sticking up in weird places and lying oddly flat in others. His usually dark tanned skin was pale, and the skin around his eyes was puffy. Every now and again he would make a sniffing noise, evidence of a stuffy nose.

"Why are you sick?" asked Luca, taking a few steps forward. He looked at her incredulously.

"Oh, I don't know. Because of goddamned snot-nosed little kids like you with their germs? Why the fuck do you think?" he grumbled. Luca frowned and walked towards his desk.

"I'm not sick, and I'm not snot-nosed," she argued back. "I bet you got sick because you're so mean!"

Xanxus attempted to make a snorting noise in response, but ended up making his nose leak, which of course then made him angry. Luca expected him to get out of bed and attack her, but he just covered the lower half of his face with his hand and glowered at her.

"Get me some tissue, trash." He ordered, pointing a box of tissue on the desk. Luca picked it up and glared back at him.

"Say please." She held the box up, knowing that what she was doing was dangerous, but…

Xanxus looked more than incredulous now; he looked ridiculous. Angry, definitely. But he still had his hand over the lower half of his face, and his eyes would flicker to the box of tissue every couple of seconds. No one wanted to have their nose running down their face, not even Xanxus.

"Give me the fucking tissue, now!" he said as loud as he could, which wasn't very loud as it was muffled by his fingers.

"I won't until you ask nicely," she replied, smiling slightly.

Xanxus said something too low for her to hear; Luca couldn't be sure what it was, a curse, complaint, or maybe…_maybe_ a 'please'. She tilted her head a little and plucked at the tissue that was sticking slightly out of the box, making it more visible.

"Fucking fine…" grumbled Xanxus a little more audibly. "Fucking _please_!"

Satisfied, Luca quickly handed over the box; Xanxus swiped it out of her hand with his free hand and glared at her, before grabbing a tissue and blowing his nose. It sounded vaguely like a dull horn; grinning she looked away at the bookshelf that was near the window. The photos she had seen before were missing; Xanxus probably put them away because of her.

Luca spun around and saw that Xanxus had put his tray of food on the floor uneaten. Soup, it would seem. Luca's stomach grumbled; she was tempted to eat it, since he wasn't going to, but she remembered him coughing all over the bed. She didn't like chicken noodle anyway. But there were packages of crackers.

Xanxus seemed to be trying to ignore her; he had his arms crossed over his chest and was looking pointedly away, scowling. His nose had turned red from all the blowing. Luca walked up to the bed and picked up the tray—it was a little big, but she managed to move it to the desk. Picking up the three packages of crackers—or 'saltines' as her Papa called them, she walked back to the bed and climbed up to sit at Xanxus' feet. That caused him to stare at her; she ignored him and tore open a package; sticking a cracker in her mouth she stared back at him. He nudged her with his foot.

"The hell are you still doing here, trash? What do you want?"

"Have you seen Squalo?" she asked.

"No. Who the fuck cares about that trash?"

Luca frowned. "Isn't he your friend?" Xanxus shrugged and shifted position slightly. He didn't give an answer. "He's weird. Why is he named after a fish? Do you like fish?"

"You're fucking annoying!" he snapped, "All you do is ask fucking questions? Why don't you get the hell out of my room and—" Another coughing fit, worst than the last. Luca slid off the bed to her feet and went to the desk where the tray of food was. There was an unopened bottle of water, which she grabbed and wordlessly handed to Xanxus.

"I bet Squalo's not your friend because you're so mean!" she said, watching him struggle to open the water and drink. Xanxus' face was blotchy red from the coughing fit; his eyes smoldered with rage as he glared at her and opened his mouth to say something harsh in return, but before he could someone else spoke.

"Ah, it's good to see you two getting along." Xanxus sputtered and choked on whatever it was he was going to say; Luca turned to see the Ninth standing in the doorway. He glanced concernedly at his son, before smiling kindly at Luca. "Hello, Luca."

The Ninth walked into the room and went to the window, where he opened it and pulled back the curtains, letting in a warm breeze. "Today's rather warm, isn't it? The fresh air might do you some good, Xanxus." The sunlight glinted off the crystal on the top of his cane as he turned around. He eyed the uneaten soup, his moustache twitching with a frown. "I never did like chicken noodle either."

Luca giggled and stuck another cracker in her mouth, watching as the Ninth went and sat down on the foot of the bed. Xanxus seemed a little less angry, but not by much. He glared at Luca, then stared at his father, before finally looking at the water bottle in his hand.

"How are you feeling?" asked the Ninth kindly. He moved to check Xanxus' temperature, but Xanxus swiped his hand away.

"Like shit," he growled. "But I'll be fine." Yes, he definitely seemed more subdued because the last part of his sentence was almost growled without anger.

The Ninth smiled. "Good. Then you won't be needing Shamal to come and look at you?" Xanxus' expression darkened dangerously at the name, but he didn't' say anything, instead, he just shook his head. The Ninth just smiled wider, and Luca was amazed at how unfazed he was. But then, Xanxus was his son, so he was probably used to it. Luca opened another cracker package and popped a cracker in her mouth. The Ninth turned to look at her.

"How do you like your tutor, Luca? I hear you've been working hard."

She looked away and nodded quietly, suddenly feeling shy. The Ninth was a little intimidating, despite being so kind. He was kind in a way that made Luca feel a pang of longing for her Papa. She stole a glance at the Ninth; her shyness seemed to please him; he smiled wider at her. "I heard that tomorrow is your birthday," he continued, "how old will you be?"

Luca stared. She hadn't realized how close her birthday had been—though she had been learning to focus on the days of the week, she hadn't really paid attention to the months. But it seemed right that her birthday was tomorrow.

"Six," she replied, smiling a little. A thought occurred to her, what her Uncle was doing in the kitchen…did her birthday have something to do with that? Her smile widened a little more, causing the Ninth to chuckle. Xanxus on the other hand was scowling at her.

"I remember when Xanxus was that age," commented the Ninth as he glanced at his son. "He was very shy back then."

Somehow, Luca couldn't see Xanxus ever being shy, or nice. Or that little. Xanxus didn't seem to like the idea of it either, he glared furiously at his father and started to say something, but the bedroom door was suddenly thrown open.

"Luca?" Azzuro was panting in the doorway, no longer covered in flour or batter, but looking equally as wild as before. His expression was worried and angry, but it went immediately pale and expressionless as he saw the Ninth staring at him mildly. "O-oh." He said, before straightening himself and trying to be a little more resigned. "Sorry Boss," he said, still a little breathless. "I was just looking for Luca…" he held his hand out to her.

"That's perfectly all right," replied the Ninth, before nodding his head dismissively at Luca. She walked over to Azzuro and put her hand in his, feeling a little guilty. The glance he gave her told her that though he wasn't as angry as he looked when he first burst in, he wasn't pleased with her. She had after all promised not to hang around Xanxus…

"Well, we'll be going then," said Azzuro. He started to lead Luca out of the room; she glanced back at father and son, and waved quietly. Xanxus refused to look at her, but the Ninth warmly waved back before the door closed. As soon as it was, Azzuro lifted Luca upwards and held her so that they were staring eye to eye.

"What were you doing in there, Luca? Haven't I told you not to hang around that punk?" he asked, walking down the hall and carrying her as if she weighed as much as Cosimo. Luca grinned apologetically and dusted off his ear, which still had flour on it.

"Sorry…"


	11. The Birthday

_And here's the next chapter~_

* * *

Chapter 11

* * *

"Hey, check this out," said Azzuro, pointing down a gravely pathway. "This looks like fun, eh, _Princessa_?"

They were standing outside the Vongola Mansion, on a side of the property Luca hadn't been to before. She was sitting on her Uncle's shoulders; at first she didn't know what he was talking about, but then she noticed. A playground.

Azzuro walked briskly down the pathway; Luca tried not to squirm too much, but she was excited when she saw that not only was there a playground, but children too. She hadn't been around other kids much lately and the chance of playing excited her. After a few more steps, Azzuro helped Luca down because she was fidgeting too much. Together, they walked the rest of the way to the playground.

The playground was filled with sand and had more slides, swings, and climbing _things_ than any park Luca had seen before. Running here and there were at least five different kids. As Luca came to a stop at the edge of the playground, one of the children stopped and ran over to them. She was dark skinned with reddish orange hair and wild green eyes—a strange combination; as soon as she got close enough, she tackled Azzuro with a war cry. Luca flinched, staring with surprise and confusion.

"Zuro!" cried the girl, her arms around his neck. Azzuro laughed and struggled to put the girl down; he was grinning. Luca immediately felt a pang of jealousy; who was this girl who hugged her Uncle as if he was _hers_? Glowering, Luca sidled over to Azzuro's side, reaching for his hand protectively. He didn't see her hand and instead placed it on the strange girl's head, much the same way he would for Luca. Shock rang through her, and then anger. Feeling tears come to her eyes, she sprang away from Azzuro and ran into the playground, looking for a place to hide. Azzuro noticed and called after her, but she was already diving under one of the playground structures and trying to get as far out of his reach as she could.

It was cold and the sand felt damp, but Luca didn't care. She wiped at her eyes, feeling betrayed. Did Azzuro have other nieces then? And if so, did he like that girl more? She sniffed loudly, wishing she had Cosimo with her.

"Hi," said a voice behind her. Luca jumped, hitting her head on the playground structure above her head. Holding the sore spot she looked at the source of the sound. A boy a little older than her was crouched at the far end, grinning. Luca stared at him, surprised, hurting and upset. He didn't stop grinning. "Who are you? You look new."

The boy's name was Nikos. Somehow he managed to talk Luca out from under the structure and into the sunlight, although it was on the opposite side of the playground, which she was glad for. She didn't want to see her Uncle being so friendly to another kid.

Nikos introduced himself before Luca had even asked his name. He seemed a little forceful, but friendly. She liked him already. He said he was a son of one the 'allied famiglia' whatever that meant, and that he came to the Vongola house often. It seemed that he had a kind of accent, though Luca didn't know what. He seemed to be a pretty normal boy, regardless. He had a shaggy mess of mud brown hair that framed a chubby face with bright golden eyes. His clothes were a little dirty and torn, and he had a few scratches on his cheeks that looked as if they came from tree climbing (Luca _would_ know). He seemed fun. He wanted her to play a game with him, but Luca kept glancing back at Azzuro's direction, distracted.

"Is that your dad?" asked Nikos, suddenly climbing up to sit atop the railing on the playground structure. She attempted to join him, climbing almost as easily as he had. Azzuro was still on the other side of the playground, talking to someone who at first Luca didn't recognize, but after a moment realized was Azzuro's friend Calder. His scar was visible even from as far away as he was; she wondered how he got it. "Is the blonde guy your dad? Hello?"

Luca blinked at Nikos in confusion, then shook her head. "He's my Uncle." Nikos nodded, as if satisfied with her answer. Out of nowhere, the orange haired girl popped her head over the opposite side of the playground structure.

"That makes you Luca, then, huh?" she said a bit loudly. Scrambling up and over, she kneeled next to them and held her hand out to Luca in greeting. "Mayu Lapaglia," she announced. Luca didn't take her hand, still not liking the girl who had hugged Azzuro. As if knowing, she grinned. "Don't worry, that guy with the scar is my Daddy." So she was Calder's daughter then; well, it didn't excuse her from hugging Azzuro like that. But Luca felt a little relieved, because it meant (as far as she knew) she was his only niece. "So, let's have her meet the others," declared Mayu, before taking Luca's arm and dragging her off.

"Bam, you're dead!" shouted Nikos, pointing at the only other boy, Cesare. From what Luca could tell, he didn't really like, let alone know how to play. He looked at Nikos the way Serafina Nerrezza had looked at her—with contempt.

"I'm not playing your stupid game," said the dark haired boy. His face was shaped as if he were forever pouting, which Luca wouldn't be surprised if that were really the case. Cesare crossed his arms over his chest as if he were important and declared, "I want to play…Castle."

"But we're playing Cops and Mafioso," replied Mayu, "Even those two," she gestured at the other two children, "want to play that. You only want to play so you can be King! And no one else wants to play Castle, so stop being a baby!"

"I'm not!" he snapped, looking like he was about to cry. Mayu turned around to the other two children, both girls. They were introduced to Luca as Ursula and Noella Casale. They were siblings, Ursula, the pale and dark haired one with freckles over her nose being the older sister, and Noella the shy, lighter haired and plain featured younger sister. Noella was younger than Luca by about two years, and kept putting her thumb in her mouth. Ursula was a little older than Luca, and kept scowling and pulling Noella's hand away from her mouth. Nikos was the eldest, being nine, and Mayu was only a year older than Luca. So far, they hadn't been able to play, because Cesare kept disagreeing with the game they wanted and failed in getting them to play what he wanted. Luca wasn't liking him very much.

"I'll be a Mafioso boss, and Luca…you should be a cop!" said Nikos, trying to initiate the game. Luca grinned and made her fingers into a gun shape; holding her hands out at him, she pretended to aim.

"Okay, then you'd better run!"

Not too long after they started playing did Azzuro suddenly start calling for Luca. She ignored him, instead tackling Mayu as she tried to put imaginary handcuffs on her wrists. The two of them rolled in the sand, squealing and shrieking until Nikos jumped on the both of them shouting 'vengeance is mine!' and pretending to shoot Luca in the chest. Luca cried out, clutching her chest as she fell backwards, grinning. Noella screamed and ran to her, tears running down her cheeks. The little girl apparently didn't understand playing dead, and Ursula didn't like that Luca made her cry, intentional or not. She stomped up to Luca as she was getting to her feet and pushed her; Luca fell backwards into the sand, her grin fading as she realized it wasn't in play.

Mayu jumped between Ursula and Luca, scowling and calling Ursula a name that Luca only used a few times when she was really upset. That made Ursula even madder and she tried to hit Mayu. Within a minute the two of them were screaming at each other and pulling at each other's hair and clothes. Nikos tried to stop them, but Noella began sobbing and clung to his side. Helpless, he looked at Luca for help; she looked at Cesare, but he was watching coolly from a distance. It was up to Luca.

At first, she simply tried to keep them apart, but Ursula attacked Luca and the two of them tumbled around in a tangled, yelling mess. Mayu jumped on Ursula's back to save Luca, and Luca started to jump back into the fray, but all of a sudden, she was lifted into the air by a pair of strong hands. Confused, she flailed, only to be met with the stern voice of Azzuro. Guilty, she let herself go limp in his arms, refusing to look at him. Instead she looked over to see Calder holding Mayu in a similar fashion, though Mayu was snarling and still trying to get at Ursula, who was making faces from the embrace of an almost eerily identical-but-older version of herself. Noella was clinging to the Ursula-older-look-alike and Luca figured it had to be their mother.

"What is wrong with you kids?" asked the lady in an uncomfortably high-pitched voice. She put her hand on the top of Ursula's head, "Can't you play nice?" Her dark eyes flashed to Calder, then to Azzuro. "You _men_ need to reign in your girls better. They need to be raised as proper ladies, not urchins."

"She started it!" accused Mayu. Calder silenced her with a look. Mayu just scowled deeper. Ursula smirked at both her and Luca, before her mother led her and Noella away.

Azzuro let out a whistling sigh and gave Calder a look; some sort of secret exchange went between the two men, but Luca didn't know what. After a moment more, Azzuro placed Luca on the ground but didn't completely let her go. Instead, he crouched down in front of her and put his hands on her shoulders.

"What was that all about, _Princessa_?" he asked in a quiet, but displeased voice. "Why were you fighting that smug little…girl?" Apparently he was going to say something other than girl, but relented. And apparently he hadn't been paying attention. Luca frowned and tried to explain what happened, but Azzuro seemed to be only half listening. He nudged her back towards the playground where Nikos and Cesare were waiting. "Just try and behave, okay? No fights." She frowned at him, but nodded, before looking at Mayu who was just barely being released by an exasperated Calder. Mayu looked at Luca, gave her a nod of some kind, and the two of them rejoined the boys.

"I can't say I'm proud that you were fighting that girl," said Azzuro, a couple hours later as he carried her back to the mansion. "But I'm glad you held your own against her, even if technically it was two on one… But try not to fight with other kids like that, eh?"

"Okay," replied Luca, her hands gently resting on the top of his head as she sat balanced on his shoulders. He didn't seem to completely believe her, but at least she wasn't punished. She smirked a little at his compliment.

"So," he said in a lighter tone. "What shall we get for dinner, my birthday girl?"

Grinning, she replied. "Pizza?"

He bounced her as they made their way to the kitchen. "Pizza it is then!"

Azzuro placed the order with the kitchen staff, who did not seem to keen on letting him in, and then he carried Luca off towards their room. When they got there, Azzuro had Luca climb down and stand between him and the door. "Alright, _princessa_, I want you to cover your eyes and walk in, okay?" He asked. Luca nodded and covered her eyes with her hands. He gently led her into the room. "Keep them covered," he said, closing the door behind them with a soft click.

She could hear strange sounds, but she didn't know what they were.

"Alright, you can look now, Happy Birthday!"

Luca opened her eyes and stared at their room. It was still the way it was before, except there were now shelves built around the head of her bed and they were filled with books, toys, and a couple new stuffed animals. Built right out of the bottom part of the shelves on both sides of the bed were nightstands with drawers built in. On one of them was a small lamp, and the other had a large pad of paper and various coloring tools.

That on its own was amazing, but it wasn't all. In front of the mini-fridge was a folding table, on top of which was…_something_. Luca walked towards it curiously. It was vaguely round shaped, covered in chocolate frosting, and topped with pink blobs with green arms (roses?—she wasn't sure). A candle in the shape of the number 6 sat haphazardly and half melted in the center.

"What is this?" she asked, a little horrified. She glanced at Azzuro for an answer and flinched at his hurt expression. Immediately she tried to cover her horror, "You made me a cake? It's so cool!" That seemed to satisfy him; she now understood just what he had been doing in the kitchen the day before. And why the cook had been crying and cursing.

Pulling a lighter from his pocket, Azzuro lit the candle.

"Alright Luca, make a wish!"

Luca wished Azzuro had just bought a cake. Two hours later, both she and her Uncle were moaning and groaning as they crawled around on the carpet with the most horrendous stomachaches. It wasn't the pizza. It could only be thanks to the disaster of a cake.

"This is worse than my worst hangover," Azzuro said into the carpet, looking very much like he was dying. Luca felt his pain, and then felt worse, and started to say as much, but...

In a flash, she was running into the bathroom with her hands clamped over her mouth.

The next morning was of little improvement. Luca still felt sick to her stomach, but otherwise was fine. Azzuro on the other hand… He was lying in bed, sweaty and shivering. Every now and again he would either sneeze, have a coughing fit, or blow his nose like a trumpet, sometimes a mixture of all three in random sequences. The floor around his bed was littered with used tissues.

"Is there a doctor?" Luca asked, attempting to sweep up the tissues with a magazine; her other hand was clenched around her middle. "Uncle, what do I do?" He couldn't get out of bed; earlier, he had tried that—and ended up sliding onto the floor, dizzy. It had taken their combined strength to get him back in bed—not that Luca could help all that much.

"Phone…" he moaned, holding out his hand. Luca dropped the magazine and handed him the phone; Azzuro had to dial three times, the first two being misdials. "Get me…S-Shamal…" he croaked into the mouth piece. After a moment, a faint voice could be heard on the other end. Azzuro coughed a few times, and then: "I need your help. No, come on…the kid's sick too… I think it's food poisoning… Yeah, my fault… No, don't do that… Please? Yeah, same room… Okay."

Half an hour later, there was a knock on the door. Luca staggered to it, fiddled with the knob, and finally opened it. A man was standing in the doorway, staring down at her a little horrified. Luca guess she didn't look much better than her Uncle.

"You poor girl," he said, attempting to help her to her bed. Before Luca quite knew what was happening, the man was putting a stethoscope to her chest, listening to her heart beat. Then he took her temperature. Luca stared at him, not sure how to react. The man was around her Uncle's age, with wavy brown hair and stubble. He smiled at her, making her look away.

"Does your tummy hurt?" he asked. Luca looked up at him and nodded. "Does your throat hurt?" He touched the both sides of her neck, just below her jaw; Luca jerked away and shook her head no. "Hmm. Have you been coughing?" Again, no. After a few more questions and a look at her throat and ears, he stood back. "Well, it looks like she doesn't have the worst of it," he said.

"Worst…of what?" asked Azzuro. The man glanced back at him and shrugged. "There's been a bug going around. The Ninth's son got it, and a whole bunch of others. Looks like you got it too…" The man turned back to Luca and tried to put his hand on the top of her head like Azzuro liked to; Luca didn't let him. The man chuckled. "This one here's lucky. If you're showing the symptoms, it means she should have already caught it…but other than leftovers from your so called_ cooking_, she seems healthy enough. She'll be fine. But I'll leave some ginger candies and vitamins, just in case."

He pulled out a handful of strange looking candy and a bottle of pills from his bag and put them on Azzuro's bedside table. Then he started to leave. Azzuro moaned and sat more upright in bed.

"Shamal, aren't you going to do something about me?" he coughed miserably. The man, Shamal turned around and stared at him incredulously.

"Ah that." He shrugged. "You know I only treat beautiful women and adorable little girls, and you my friend, are neither." Opening the door, he glanced back. "I'll tell you this much; as long you don't overdo it, and you drink water, you'll be fine." His eyes moved to Luca. "As for you, little one, I will treat you anytime. Ciao!" And with that, he was gone almost as quickly as he came.

Azzuro moaned and covered his face with his hands.

The next day, Azzuro was a little better, but couldn't head out to work. But that didn't stop him from making sure Luca was tutored. Sometime in the late morning, Colonnello came to their room and picked Luca up, rather than the usual, which was Azzuro dropping her off in the usual place—a room used solely for schooling. He didn't seem very sympathetic towards Azzuro's state, and he didn't stick around long enough for Azzuro to start chewing him out again over his style of teaching. Instead, he led Luca away quickly, carrying his clipboard, water bottle, and grin like usual.

The day seemed to go on at a slower pace than usual. Luca's schooling started with math, followed by economics, and then some review of the previous day's work. Somehow, Luca managed to get through it all without a tantrum—Colonnello seemed pleased.

"You're doing well," he commented at the end of the day. "Keep it up, kiddo." Luca felt a little proud; she kept up with Colonnello as he led them back to her and Azzuro's room. Luca's poor Uncle was still there, snoring loudly. A bottle of flu medicine was still clutched in his hand; as soon as Luca opened the door, he snorted and sat upright, half asleep but in defense mode, the bottle held in his hand defensively. Colonnello smirked, following Luca in and shutting the door behind him.

"Feeling any better?" he asked, "Drink more water and you'll definitely get better!" He held up his trademark water bottle as if to prove it. Azzuro just blinked sleepily at him. Unfazed, the cheerful blonde man made his way to the door. "Well, I'll go then. Err… Tomorrow the Ninth is wanting to go over Luca's flame training… You should probably stick around, eh?"

By the time Azzuro woke up enough to comprehend, Colonnello was already gone.

Taking a swig of the flu medicine, Azzuro made a face before looking at Luca. She was turning on the TV to an afternoon cartoon marathon. Feeling his eyes, she looked back at him.

"That should be interesting, eh _princessa?_"

* * *

_Hmm... What do you think so far? I might be a little rusty... I didn't quite like how I ended this chapter, but I didn't want it to get too long. If I had moved on to the upcoming event-the flame training-this chapter would have been doubled, and I myself don't like reading chapters that are too long... I dunno._

_Until the next time~!_


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